The Souled Store
Company History
The Souled Store History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 2013 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
When was The Souled Store founded?
The Souled Store was founded in 2013 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India by Vedang Patel, Aditya Sharma, Rohin Samtaney and Harsh Lal, making it 13 years old.
- Founded
- 2013
- Founding place
- Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- Founders
- Vedang Patel, Aditya Sharma, Rohin Samtaney and Harsh Lal
- Headquarters today
- Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- Milestones documented
- 6 (2013–2026)
- Current CEO
- Vedang Patel
- Acquisitions
- 1
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2013 | Founded in Mumbai |
| 2023 | ~$15.7 million (₹135 crore) funding round |
| 2024 | First profitable year |
| 2025 | Acquires Redwolf |
| 2025 | FY25 revenue of ~$57.1 million (₹492 crore) |
| 2026 | Reported valuation talks |
- Where was The Souled Store founded?
- The Souled Store was founded in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India in 2013.
- Who founded The Souled Store?
- The Souled Store was founded by Vedang Patel, Aditya Sharma, Rohin Samtaney and Harsh Lal.
- When did The Souled Store start?
- The Souled Store was founded in 2013.
- How old is The Souled Store?
- The Souled Store is 13 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
In 2013 the four co-founders noticed that Indian fans of Marvel, DC and other franchises had few places to buy official merchandise; most options were street bootlegs or expensive imports. They pooled personal savings, reportedly about $6,380 (₹5.5 lakh), and chose to pay for official licences instead of selling look-alike designs. That decision became the company's identity.
Founders
Vedang Patel
Vedang Patel co-founded The Souled Store in 2013. Deeply frustrated by the absolute lack of affordable, official pop-culture merchandise in India, he and his co-founders pooled incredibly minimal personal savings to start printing quirky t-shirts out of a small apartment in Mumbai. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Aditya Sharma
Aditya Sharma co-founded The Souled Store in 2013. He played an absolutely critical role in securing the highly complex, multi-layered official licensing agreements with massive global conglomerates (like Disney and Warner Bros) that legitimized the brand. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Rohin Samtaney
Rohin Samtaney co-founded The Souled Store in 2013. He served as the primary operational architect, managing the highly complex, massively scaling supply chain required to deliver millions of custom-printed garments across India reliably. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Harsh Lal
Harsh Lal co-founded The Souled Store in 2013. He heavily drove the company's incredibly successful, highly viral social media marketing strategies, perfectly targeting the Gen Z demographic with deeply localized pop-culture references. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Key Milestones
Founded in Mumbai
Vedang Patel, Aditya Sharma, Rohin Samtaney and Harsh Lal launched the brand with personal savings.
Source: businesstoday.in~$15.7 million (₹135 crore) funding round
Round led by Xponentia Capital with Elevation Capital and RPSG Capital to expand offline stores.
Source: inc42.comFirst profitable year
FY24 revenue from operations of ~$41.8 million (₹360 crore) and profit of ~$2.05 million (₹17.67 crore).
Source: entrackr.comAcquires Redwolf
Bought rival pop-culture merchandise brand Redwolf; its three founders joined TSS.
Source: thesouledstore.comFY25 revenue of ~$57.1 million (₹492 crore)
Revenue grew about 37% while profit fell to ~$1.28 million (₹11 crore).
Source: entrackr.comReported valuation talks
ET reported a mostly secondary deal that could value TSS at ₹4,000-5,000 crore.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.comMajor Acquisitions
Redwolf
2025Consolidate the Indian pop-culture merchandise market by buying a direct rival.
Keep researching The Souled Store
The Souled Store Company History FAQ
When, where, and by whom was The Souled Store founded?
The Souled Store was founded in 2013 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, by four college friends and young entrepreneurs: Vedang Patel, Aditya Sharma, Rohin Samtaney, and Harsh Lal.
What inspired the creation of The Souled Store in 2013?
The founders noticed that Indian fans of pop-culture franchises like Marvel, Batman, Harry Potter, and Star Wars had no access to official, high-quality merchandise, being forced to choose between poor-quality pirated street knock-offs and expensive imported tees.
With how much initial capital did the founders launch the company?
The four founders bootstrapped the venture using their pooled personal savings of approximately ₹5.25 lakh to ₹5.5 lakh (around $6,380 USD), operating out of a tiny shared room in Mumbai and handling packaging themselves.
Why did The Souled Store insist on official licensing from day one?
Rather than selling unlicensed "parody" designs like other Indian t-shirt portals, the founders reached out directly to entertainment studios to acquire official legal licenses, securing legitimacy, superior design assets, and fan trust.
What were The Souled Store's earliest breakthrough studio licensing deals?
Early breakthrough licensing partnerships included Warner Bros. (Batman, Superman, Harry Potter, F.R.I.E.N.D.S) and Disney/Marvel (Avengers, Iron Man, Spider-Man), followed by Star Wars, Cartoon Network, and WWE.
When did The Souled Store raise its first round of institutional venture capital?
After bootstrapping profitably for five years, The Souled Store raised its first institutional funding in November 2018, securing ₹21 crore (approximately $3 million USD) from RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group's RPSG Capital.
How did Elevation Capital and celebrity investor Sara Ali Khan accelerate growth in 2021?
In August 2021, The Souled Store raised ₹75 crore ($10 million USD) in Series B funding led by Elevation Capital. Shortly thereafter, Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan invested in the company and became its primary celebrity brand ambassador.
What was the landmark ₹135 crore Series C funding round in 2023?
In March 2023, The Souled Store raised ₹135 crore ($16.4 million USD) led by Xponentia Capital, alongside Elevation Capital and RPSG Capital, to expand its offline retail mall presence and warehouse infrastructure.
How did The Souled Store transition from an online D2C store to an omnichannel brand?
Beginning with its first flagship store in Bandra, Mumbai in 2019, The Souled Store expanded offline into premier shopping malls across Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad, growing to dozens of profitable company-operated stores.
What was the strategic acquisition of rival pop-culture brand Redwolf in 2025?
In April 2025, The Souled Store acquired its closest domestic pop-culture merchandise rival Redwolf in a cash-and-stock deal, consolidating indie designer communities, niche music merchandise, and cult fandom licensing rights.
How did the brand expand beyond pop-culture graphics into general casualwear?
Recognizing that graphic tees had a ceiling, the company broadened its catalog into premium casualwear—launching Supima cotton t-shirts, oversized streetwear, cargo pants, denim, sneakers, innerwear, and backpacks.
What valuation milestone did The Souled Store achieve in 2026?
By mid-2026, driven by over ₹500 crore in annual revenues and sustained net profitability, secondary transactions valued The Souled Store at an estimated ₹4,000 crore to ₹5,000 crore ($500M+ USD).
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