Thrasio-Style Mensa Brands Acquires Leather Brand Estalon

Ecommerce rollup unicorn Mensa Brands has acquired Kolkata-based leather goods manufacturer and seller, Estalon. With Mensa, the startup is looking to grow 5X by 2025.

Estalon, a one-of-its-kind brand, was created in association with Mosay International. The venture has largely been family-owned and specialises in creating various leather products such as ladies handbags, shoulder and shopping bags, rucksacks, men’s folios, organisers, wallets, key cases among others. Its portfolio also includes small accessories such as rigger gloves, welding gloves, etc.

Post-acquisition, Estalon plans to launch high-demand leather categories. It also aims to harness Mensa’s data-based insights, digital marketing and expertise in enhancing operational efficiencies to turbocharge growth.

Mohammed Mobashir, founder, Estalon said in a statement that the Mensa team’s expertise and enthusiasm will help expand the brand’s footprint and achieve the growth goals. “We are focused on better serving existing customers and reaching new customers, by introducing new products, launching on new channels, and fine-tuning the customer experience,” he added.

According to Mordor Intelligence, the leather industry in India was valued at $13 Bn in 2019 and is expected to grow to $25 Bn in the next 10 years.

In November 2021, Thrasio-style venture Mensa Brands became the fastest Indian startup to become a unicorn after raising $135 Mn in a Series B round led by Alpha Wave Ventures at a $1 Bn valuation. The startup acquires, consolidates and scales ecommerce brands in broad domains.

Bengaluru-based Mensa Brands has already acquired 15 D2C brands within eight months of its launch. It is eyeing a portfolio of more than 50 ventures across fashion, home, garden, personal care, and beauty by 2024.

The startup states that it invests in new-age consumer brands that are profitable and have revenue between $1 Mn and $10 Mn. Founder Ananth Narayanan previously told Inc42 that Mensa buys out a majority stake (50-60%) within the brand at 5-7x the EBITDA of the company.

The Mensa team brings in-house domain expertise in marketplace-native technology, data mining and digital marketing, category management and operations, brand building and global expansion. Thus, it thrusts the brands into the ecommerce segment with an omnichannel strategy, financial support, geographical expansion, and process optimisation.

Mensa Brands’ current portfolio includes Pune-based women apparel brand Karagiri, Delhi NCR-based jewellery brand Priyaasi, men’s casualwear brand Hubberholme, Mumbai-based men’s casual wear brand Dennis Lingo, women ethnic wear brand Ishin and smart FMCD startup Helea, Jaipur-based ethnic wear brand Anubhutee, Ahmedabad-based men’s personal care brand Villain among others. The most recent additions include Delhi NCR-based digital-first kidswear brand LilPicks and Chennai-based denim brand High Star.

However, Mensa Brands isn’t the first such adoptor of the Thrasio-model in India — some popular names include Supam Maheshwari’s FirstCry’s GlobalBees, Rishi Vasudev’s GOAT Brand Labs, Utsav Agarwal & Pulkir Chhabra’s Evenflow, Bhavana Suresh’s 10Club, Presight Capital-backed Upscalio, and FJ Labs-backed Powerhouse91. In fact, US-based Thrasio, the brand after whom the roll-up startups are styled, has entered the Indian market with its first local acquisition of Delhi NCR-based home appliances startup Lifelong Online.