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Kul Bhushan · · 1 min readIndian ecommerce roll-up hits unicorn status with $135m raise
“Thrasio-style house of brands player Mensa Brands on Tuesday said it has raised US$135 million as part of its latest Series B funding round led by Falcon Edge Capital’s growth stage platform, Alpha Wave Ventures, at a valuation of about US$1.2 billion,” Livemint reported.
Details:
- Current investors including Accel Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Tiger Global Management also took part in the fundraise. The India-based startup also has a new backer: Prosus Ventures, which used to be known as Naspers Ventures.
- Mensa Brands broke into the unicorn club six months of its launch, making it the youngest startup to cross US$1 billion in valuation. It will use the money to expand its portfolio and increase hiring, among others.
Dive deeper:
- Mensa Brands follows a Thrasio-like business model, snapping up digital brands and then scaling them up. It has acquired 12 brands, and plans to close another 20 deals in the future.
- The startup joins the unicorn club amid reports that Thrasio plans to enter India via the acquisition of a local online brand for up to US$50 million. The US-based company is up against similar players such as GlobalBees, Upscalio, 10Club, and GOAT Brand Labs. (Read: Roll-up ecommerce flexes its muscles in India)
Editing by Deepti Sri and Eileen C. Ang
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