Nexus, Rainmatter invest Rs 225 crore in Agilitas Sports

Agilitas Sports, founded by former Puma India managing director Abhishek Ganguly, has raised Rs 225 crore from Nexus Venture Partners and Rainmatter as it looks to scale its sportswear platform across manufacturing, brands and offline retail.

The round includes a Rs 200 crore follow-on investment from Nexus and Rs 25 crore from Rainmatter.

Ganguly told ET that the capital will be used for product research and development, design, manufacturing capacity, retail expansion, technology, people, and brand-building.


“We are not a business that needs to continuously consume capital to sustain itself. But when you have retail ambition, you need capital expenditure, working capital and inventory.”

He did not disclose the valuation for the latest round of funding.

Nexus had invested Rs 100 crore in Agilitas in 2023, while funds advised by Convergent Finance had invested Rs 400 crore the same year.

Actor-producer Anushka Sharma also participated in the latest round. ET first reported about it on May 29.

The funding comes as Agilitas is trying to build itself as a full-stack sportswear company rather than a single consumer brand. Since its launch, the company has acquired footwear manufacturer Mochiko Shoes, launched Italian sportswear brand Lotto in India, brought Virat Kohli-backed One8 into its portfolio, and entered offline retail through Sportsyard.

“We are building an ecosystem across manufacturing, brands and retail,” Ganguly said.

The acquisition of Mochiko Shoes in 2023 gave it a manufacturing base for sports footwear.

Ganguly said manufacturing is central to the company’s strategy because India has not built enough depth in sports footwear manufacturing, unlike apparel. “India has solved apparel manufacturing to a large extent, but sports footwear manufacturing is still what we are solving,” he said.

Mochiko’s revenue has grown from around Rs 650 crore in FY23 to Rs 1,350 crore in FY26, he said. The unit manufactures for Agilitas-owned brands as well as partner sports footwear companies.

Agilitas launched Lotto in India in July 2025 and will unveil One8, co-founded with Kohli, on June 21.

Ganguly said Kohli’s role in One8 goes beyond endorsement. “Virat is integral to building One8. He is not just the face of the brand. He has been involved in designing, developing and testing the product,” he said.

The company is also expanding Sportsyard, its large-format multi-brand retail format that sells brands such as Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Asics, Puma and Skechers. Ganguly said its first Bengaluru store turned profitable within two months and that it plans to open 10 more Sportsyard stores this financial year.

He said the format is meant to address the high fixed costs of exclusive brand outlets and discounting pressure in ecommerce. Agilitas will generate around 25-30% from ecommerce, both marketplaces and their own channels combined, Ganguly said.

“Every brand will still need its own stores to showcase the full brand experience. But opening 500 or 700 exclusive stores overfuels fixed costs, and not all of them are sustainably profitable,” he said. “In the brand business, we will compete. In manufacturing and multi-brand retail, we collaborate.”