Thrasio-Style Venture GlobalBees Acquires Women Focussed D2C Brand andMe

GlobalBees, a Thrasio-style venture which invests or acquires D2C brands has acquired andMe, a D2C brand that offers women products across menstrual health, hormonal health, beauty and fitness. This is the second acquisition of GlobalBees after it had acquired sustainable home care products company The Better Home.

The acquisition also marks GlobalBees entry in the femtech sector. Globalbees has not disclosed the acquisition amount. Post the acquisition, the founders of andME and its 15 member team will join the GlobalBees team to continue to strengthen its product portfolio and focus on reaching broader women communities both in India and globally.

Founded in 2017 by Ankur Goyal, andMe offers healthcare products to women throughout the multiple stages they go through in their lives. The brand offers plant-based, preservative-free, chemical-free products that consist of no added sugar that helps with UTI, PCOS, menopause, thyroid. 

The startup boasts that around 70% of its sales are from outside the major five cities, including small towns in eastern India. The brand competes against the likes of Pling, InnerBeing, Nua, PeeSafe, among others. 

Nitin Agarwal, CEO of GlobalBees on the acquisition said that GlobalBees wants to accelerate the andMe’s product development pipeline to create a new category that focuses on the nutrition needs of women across the world. 

Launched in 2021, GlobalBees raised the largest Series A round in the Indian startup ecosystem. It bagged $150 Mn in its first investment round  from its parent company FirstCry along with Lightspeed Ventures and others in July this year. 

GlobalBees invests in and acquires seller businesses on Amazon India, Flipkart and other ecommerce marketplaces. It has offices in Delhi and Bangalore and is eyeing to acquire 30-40 D2C brands across categories. It plans to utilise the funds received over the next 3-4 years while making $2 Mn-$6 Mn per brand acquisition or investment.

In the recent months, India’s startup ecosystem has seen emergence of several Thrasio styled ventures such as Mensa Brands, GOAT Brand Labs, Evenflow, 10Club, Upscalio, among others. All these  companies are trying to bet on India’s growing D2C market. 

As per Inc42 Plus report, the Indian D2C market is expected to triple from $33.1 Bn in 2020 to touch $100 Bn by 2025 on the back of the projection that online shoppers in India will reach 350 Mn by FY25, up from 128 Mn in FY21. 

The report highlighted that at present, there are over 800 D2C brands in the country, and these brands have raised close to $2.04 Bn since 2014. The fashion segment will drive India’s D2C market followed by consumer electronics, FMCG and home decor sector.

The term ‘Thrasio’ model has come from a Massachusetts-based startup Thrasio, which was founded in 2018 and is now valued close to $4 Bn. Thrasio’s model revolves around acquiring third-party sellers on Amazon in the US and helping them to scale further.

Interestingly, today ET reported that Thrasio may enter the Indian market with its first local acquisition of Delhi NCR-based home appliances startup Lifelong Online for $30 Mn to $50 Mn. Thrasio has also earmarked $500 Mn for acquisitions in India, and it might run the India operation through Lifelong Online, the report added.

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