Comet Raises INR 100 Crore Series B to Expand Its Sneaker Retail Footprint

Bengaluru-based sneaker brand Comet has raised INR 100 crore in a Series B round led by Verlinvest, with existing backers Elevation Capital and Nexus Venture Partners also participating. Urban Company co-founder Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Snap executive Ajit Mohan, and entrepreneur Anand Ahuja joined as angel investors.

From a Rs 42 Crore Series A to a Global-Backed Series B

Comet was founded in 2023 by Utkarsh Gupta and Dishant Daryani and raised a Rs 42.3 crore Series A led by Elevation Capital in 2024. The jump to a Rs 100 crore Series B, more than double the prior round, brought in Verlinvest, a Brussels-based investment firm known for backing consumer brands internationally, alongside its existing Indian venture backers. That combination of a domestic early lead and an international consumer-focused firm stepping in for the growth round is a pattern increasingly common among India's direct-to-consumer retail brands looking to scale beyond a single market.

Betting on Proprietary Design, Not Just Distribution

Comet plans to use the new capital to open more retail stores, expand its product range, and invest in its own research and development, with a specific focus on developing proprietary sole designs rather than relying on third-party manufacturing templates. That focus on owned technology inside a consumer product category is notable: sneaker and footwear brands often compete primarily on brand and distribution, and a startup investing Series B capital specifically into its own sole design intellectual property is making a longer-term bet on product differentiation over pure retail expansion.

A Bench of Operator-Angels

Comet's angel bench is also worth noting: Urban Company's Abhiraj Singh Bhal and Snap's Ajit Mohan both bring operating experience scaling consumer platforms at speed, a different kind of value-add than a purely financial angel check, and increasingly common in later seed and Series B rounds for Indian direct-to-consumer brands looking for hands-on retail and growth guidance alongside capital.

What This Means for Founders

Comet's raise is a useful example of sequencing for consumer and direct-to-commerce founders: a domestic early round to prove the retail model, followed by a growth round anchored by an investor with specific international consumer-brand experience once the model is validated. Founders building physical retail or D2C brands in India can find useful positioning guidance in AngelLinx's investor directory, which includes consumer-focused firms like Verlinvest alongside domestic venture funds, and the live listings page shows how similar consumer brands are performing with real investor interest today. AngelLinx's guides to tracking ARR growth and managing burn rate are useful references for founders planning a retail expansion the way Comet is, and the AngelLinx newsroom covers similar Indian consumer rounds as they close. Founders ready to find investors who understand both domestic and international consumer retail can register on AngelLinx today.

AngelLinx Intelligence | angellinx.ai