Mensa Brands raises $40 Mn debt from EvolutionX

E-commerce roll up company Mensa Brands has picked up $40 million in a debt round from EvolutionX. This is the second debt financing round for the Bengaluru-based company this year and comes at a time when its global peer Thrasio is mulling over filing bankruptcy.

The funds will be utilised for marketing and investment in tech to improve operations, the company said in a press release.

In February, Mensa raised Rs 300 crore debt from TradeCred while it raised a $135 million equity round at a valuation of more than $1 billion and became one of the fastest Indian startups to attain unicorn status. As per startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, it has raised more than $280 million to date from investors including Accel Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Prosus Ventures and Tiger Global.

Mensa partners and invests in digital-first brands across fashion and apparel, home and garden, beauty and personal care and food and scales them exponentially. The company claims to have partnered with more than 25 brands. Besides India, it has offices in UAE, and the US and claims to have served more than 10 million customers.

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Last year, it also acquired MensXP, iDiva, and Hypp from Times Internet for an undisclosed amount.

Mensa Brands registered $41.36 million (Rs 310 crore approximately) in revenue in its first year of operations of FY22, according to TheKredible. It reported a loss of $16.41 million in the fiscal year. While the firm is yet to file its FY23 numbers, it claims to have been profitable for the past fiscal years. 

Led by Ananth Narayanan, former CEO of Myntra and Medlife, Mensa directly competes with GlobalBees, Goat Brand Labs, Evenflow, UpScalio, 10club, and Powerhouse91. GlobalBees, the second unicorn from e-commerce roll up space, raised its last funding round in December 2021.