Mensa Brands Secures INR 300 Cr Debt Funding From TradeCred

Thrasio-style ecommerce rollup unicorn Mensa Brands has secured INR 300 Cr ($36.2 Mn) debt funding from wealthtech platform TradeCred. 

Mensa plans to utilise the fresh capital for acquiring new brands and accelerate brand growth. This will include product development, supply chain integration, and working capital investment.

The development comes over a month after Mensa Brands acquired MensXP, iDiva, and Hypp from Times Internet for an undisclosed amount.

Founded in May 2021 by former Myntra CEO Anath Narayanan, the ecommerce roll up mainly acquires digital-first brands across diverse sectors and helps them scale further. 

The startup claims to be managing 25 brands across fashion, home, beauty and FMCG categories; Dennis Lingo, Villain, Pebble, MyFitness, Karagiri and Pretty Krafts, to name a few. 

“The growth of our business in India and around the world continues to be phenomenal. We are pioneering the path to an industry-first tech-led house of brands with our five breakout category leaders. With this additional capital, we will be able to double down on our growth ambition,” Narayanan said.

In September last year, Mensa acquired peanut butter brand MYFITNESS for an undisclosed amount. 

In the financial year 2021-22, it reported a loss of INR 96.62 Cr whilst its revenue stood at INR 217.89 Cr; of this, INR 186.15 Cr was operating revenue clocked in the same time period. 

“TradeCred is delighted to partner with Mensa Brands, the market leader and fastest-growing company in its space known for encouraging ‘Made in India’ products to become global and enabling Indian MSMEs to reach the doorsteps of global customers,” said, Hardik Shah, founder of TradeCred. 

Mensa is said to have served more than 10 Mn customers. Further it has an employee base of over 700 staff across its Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurgaon, UAE, and the US offices.

Mensa’s cap table includes Accel Partners, Falcon Edge Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Prosus, Tiger Global Management, Alteria Capital, InnoVen Capital, Oxyzo and Stride Ventures, among others. 

In India, it locks horns with GlobalBees, GOAT Brand Labs, UpScalio, and THG, among others.

According to an Inc42 report, the country’s D2C market is projected to become a $300 Bn space by 2030. It will grow at a CAGR of 24% by the forecast period (during 2021-30).