Flipkart Group announces strategic investment in USPL

The Flipkart Group on Thursday announced a strategic investment in USPL, a fashion firm that houses brands like Wrogn and Imara.

With this deal, Flipkart aims to strengthen its play in the fashion segment.

The investment is a part of USPL’s Series F funding round which also saw participation from existing backer Accel Partners.

The development comes barely two weeks after Walmart-backed Flipkart said it is acquiring a 7.8% stake in Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail (ABFRL) in a Rs 1,500 crore transaction. Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO at Flipkart Group has suggested in his recent interviews to the media that fashion and grocery will be the focus areas for the company and it will continue to stay invested in the segments. Given that the growth of online fashion and grocery categories is still very nascent, there is enough room to expand.

Besides having an online presence, USPL brands are also present in more than 750 offline retail outlets across over 100 cities. Flipkart can capitalise on the brand’s omnichannel offering to provide more selection of products to customers. “Through this investment, the Flipkart Group will work closely with the USPL team to deepen product offerings on its platforms,” the company said in a statement.

Anjana Reddy, Founder & CEO, USPL, said: “When the world is moving towards omnichannel retailing, we can significantly strengthen our online strategy by working with Flipkart and Myntra, the two prominent players in the Indian online fashion space.”