AI reboots roll-ups, but can it fix the model?

Just a couple of years ago, ecommerce roll-ups were one of the hottest things in startups. Companies like Thrasio and dozens of copycats in India and Southeast Asia went on a buying spree, snapping up brands with piles of cheap debt.

Then capital costs spiked, demand dipped, and the whole model started to crumble. Even Thrasio, the poster child, went bankrupt before recovering.

Now, there is a new flavor in the roll-up game – this time with AI. Startups in the US are acquiring traditional service firms in areas like tax, legal, and accounting companies and layering on AI to boost margins and scale faster.

One of the first movers is Singapore-based Multiplier Holdings, led by ex-Stripe executive Noah Pepper. His company acquired UK-based boutique tax firm Citrine International and automated key processes with AI.

The move increased Citrine’s free cash flow – the money left after paying for operating costs, salaries, and taxes – by 2.5x year on year.

Companies in India and Southeast Asia are also “sniffing around this model,” Pepper tells Tech in Asia.

Seasoned founders like Kiren Tanna, former CEO and co-founder of ecommerce aggregator Una Brands, are also eyeing the AI roll-up opportunity. “I am personally looking at this space, such as in business process outsourcing,” he tells Tech in Asia.

See also: Call center apocalypse fails as flesh beats AI economics

In India, AI startup Rian wants to buy two traditional translation agencies and modernize them by integrating AI into their operations, says founder Anand Shiralkar.

But is this the old roll-up hustle dressed in AI? Or will it reinvent traditional business from the ground up? The buzz is real, but the cracks could be too.

From AI seller to owner

Before starting Multiplier, Pepper was building SaaS tools.

But that idea didn’t really work out. “Many of the traditional firms are not confident buyers of technology,” says Pepper. “They don’t fully understand how to assess or implement software, and it’s not their background.”

That insight triggered a pivotal shift in strategy. Instead of trying to sell software from the outside, Pepper decided to buy the firms themselves, embed AI, and transform how they operate from within. That move became the foundation of Multiplier.

Smarter than Thrasio?