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Hello readers,
I’d first heard of “ecommerce roll-up startups” a few months ago, when I was producing the September episode of our Deep Dive podcast.
These businesses acquire direct-to-consumer brands and scale them up with the help of their deeper pockets and market expertise. I was told then that it was a trend that was beginning to take hold in India and that it had huge potential in the country.
This week, Mensa Brands proved that prediction right. The India-based ecommerce roll-up firm raised US$135 million, boosting its valuation to about US$1.2 billion. Having only been founded six months ago, it’s the youngest startup in the country to join the unicorn club.
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Will we see more ecommerce roll-up brands hitting the billion-dollar valuation mark?
You can find all other important investment deals that happened in the last few days in our weekly funding news wrap-up.
Let’s dive into the biggest deals and M&As that recently took place.
The biggest deals by country
🇨🇳 Ignis Therapeutics: The China-based biotechnology company raised US$180 million from 6 Dimensions Capital, Goldman Sachs, HBM Healthcare Investments, KB Investment, Mubadala Investment Company, Ruentex Group, and WTT investment in a series A funding round.
🇮🇳 Mensa Brands: The India-headquartered ecommerce roll-up bagged US$135 million in series B funding from Accel Partners, Falcon Edge Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Prosus Ventures, and Tiger Global Management.
🇮🇱 Justt: The Israel-based AI firm raised a total of US$70 million across three funding rounds that were individually led by F2 Venture Capital, Oak HC/FT, and Zeev Ventures.
🇯🇵 HIKKY: The Japan-headquartered virtual reality startup scored US$57 million in series A funding from NTT DOCOMO.
Lists of most active investors in the region
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