Rishi Vasudev’s GOAT Brand Labs Raises $50 Mn In Debt & Equity

D2C rollup ecommerce startup GOAT Brand Labs has raised $50 Mn in an equity and debt part in its Series A round. The round saw participation from several new and existing investors including Winter Capital, 9Unicorns, Venture Catalysts, Vivriti Capital and Oxyzo.

It plans to use the funds to acquire and scale more brands and is already in conversation with 12 brands, the company said in a statement.

The round follows the Bengaluru-based startup’s $36 Mn funding in July 2021 from Tiger Global, Flipkart Ventures, Mayfield, Nordstar and Better Capital. So far, the startup has raised $106 Mn across three rounds.

Founded by ex-Flipkart executive Rishi Vasudev and Turms founder Rameswar Misra, Thrasio-style GOAT Brand Labs follows the footsteps of the namesake model. It acquires D2C lifestyle brands across the country and helps them grow online.

India is home to close to 1K D2C brands, and these D2C brands and their enablers are inarguably going to be the biggest game-changer in retail since ecommerce, with an expected market size of $100 Mn by 2026.

GOAT caters to the D2C market alongside competitors such as GlobalBees (which recently acquired five brands), Evenflow, Mensa Brands, and others. It helps its portfolio brands to fuel their growth across online as well as offline channels. It provides them with a tech-enabled platform for end-to-end integration alongside its digital marketing, brand, technology and operational expertise.

GOAT Brand Labs usually acquires lifestyle brands with great social media traction, and high direct sales from their own websites or platforms such as Shopify, Myntra and Ajio, having an ARR in the range of $2 Mn – $10 Mn.

Since its launch in May 2021, it has acquired 15+ brands including bottom wear brand Pepe Jeans, petcare brand Doggie Dabbas, Indian wear brands trueBrowns and Abhishti, beauty and skincare platforms Neemli and Nutriglow and gardening solutions Leafy Greens.

By 2025, the D2C rollup startup plans to take a total of 100 brands under its portfolio, eyeing a revenue of $1 Bn.