Mensa becomes India’s fastest unicorn with $135 million funding

Former Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan’s Mensa Brands has secured $135 million in new capital, valuing the six-month-old company at over a billion dollars. As a result, it is the fastest Indian start-up to achieve the status of ‘unicorn.’

About October 4, Moneycontrol first reported on Mensa’s potential to become a unicorn. Mensa follows a concept similar to that of Thrasio in the United States, which acquires lucrative, well-reviewed online merchants on Amazon and uses technology, marketing and product growth expertise to accelerate their growth.

Falcon Edge Capital, together with other previous investors such as Accel, Norwest and Tiger Global Management, led the $135 million Series B fundraising round. Prosus (Naspers) is the league’s newest member.

So far, Mensa has purchased 12 businesses in areas including designer sarees, jewellery, men’s apparel, smart gadgets and personal care. The majority of these companies have grown by 100% year over year since their purchase, according to the firm.

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‘Our deep focus on technology and digital brand building, as well as our people, has allowed us to grow three times our initial plan and we, at Mensa Brands, are primed to build global breakout brands from India. I am especially proud that more than 50% of our brands are led by women founders and that Mensa supports small and medium-sized businesses across the country’, Narayanan said.

Mensa has raised nearly $300 million in stock or debt so far, claiming to be profitable. Debt is a key tool for acquiring businesses since it is less expensive than equity.

Mensa competes with GlobalBees, Upscalio, and GOAT Brand Labs for the best-funded players in India’s ecommerce rollup industry. GlobalBees is likewise in the process of raising money.

Navroz Udwadia, co-founder and partner at Falcon Edge Capital stated: ‘Mensa demonstrates a tangible uplift through a combination of product and pricing optimisation, technology-led process improvement, distribution and marketing augmentation and fine-tuning the supply chain. These levers meaningfully accelerate the growth and margin trajectory of the brands and make them well-poised to become category leaders’.