Former Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan’s Mensa Brands raises $50 mn in funding

Industry:    2021-06-02

Mensa Brands, a startup founded by former Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan has raised close to $50 million in series A funding from Accel Partners, Falcon Edge Capital and Norwest Venture Partners. Angel investors Kunal Shah, Mukesh Bansal, DST Global’s Rahul Mehta and Scott Shleifer of Tiger Global also participated in the financial round.

The firm also secured debt financing from Alteria Capital and Innoven Capital, it said in a statement on Monday.

The company aims to bring a cluster of brands under its aegis and plans to partner and invest in digital-first brands. Mensa is looking to acquire more than 50 brands across categories including home, garden, apparel, personal care and beauty over the next three years.

The concept is akin to the one followed by US-based company Thrasio. The company acquires third-party brands that sell on Amazon and helps build on their growth.

“After the acquisition, we will be using technology, product and our e-commerce expertise to scale these brands up. We will try and grow the brands not just in India but globally,” Narayanan told FE. Mensa plans to acquire mid-sized brands that make anywhere between Rs 10 crore-Rs 70 crore in revenues annually. “We want them to be Ebitda profitable and they need to be primarily online. So, more than 70% of their revenues need to come online,” Narayanan said.

“Why do founders come and work with us? They believe their brands can grow faster working with us and in partnership with us. They get a financial return upfront which is when we buy the majority, we pay them. They can continue to profit from the brand even as the brand grows,” Narayanan added.

Mensa, which wants to build a “technology-led house of brands for the e-commerce world” said it will scale up the brands through the application of growth marketing, operational improvement and working capital management.

“With the digital acceleration of commerce globally, this model would be additive to the brand owners, the platforms and the consumers and should thus scale rapidly,” said Subrata Mitra, Partner at Accel Partners.

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