Mensa Brands, a Bengaluru, India-based digital brand marketplace platform, raised US$135M in Series B funding, valued at over USD1 Billion.
The round was led by Alpha Wave Ventures and Falcon Edge Capital with participation from Accel Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Tiger Global Management and Prosus Ventures. Within 6 months of starting the business, Mensa has raised a total of more than $300m in equity and debt.
The company intends to use the funds to continue partnering with founding teams of customer-loved brands and help them become household names.
Led by Ananth Narayanan, Founder and CEO, Mensa Brands builds global digital first brands from India by partnering with entrepreneurs, investing into their business, and bringing expertise to help the brand scale. The company works closely with founding teams to accelerate growth on marketplaces, through the brand’s own websites, and global platforms by using a combination of initiatives across product, pricing, marketing, distribution, and brand building with a technology platform at the core. To date, Mensa Brands has partnered with 12 brands including Villain, a men’s fragrance, and accessories brand and Karagiri, a high-end designer sarees brand.
Narayanan was previously the CEO of Myntra and Medlife and a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company.
The company is backed by marquee global investors including Accel Partners, Alpha Wave | Falcon Edge Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Prosus Ventures, and Tiger Global Management. It has also secured debt financing from Alteria Capital, InnoVen Capital, Piramal Capital, Stride Ventures, and TradeCred.
FinSMEs
18/11/2021