Mensa Brands raises Rs 300 crore in a debt round to fund new acquisitions

E-commerce roll-up unicorn Mensa Brands has raised a debt round of Rs 300 crore led by alt-debt platform TradeCred. The ‘house of brands’ plans to utilize the funds for new acquisitions as well as growth via product development, supply chain integration, and working capital investment.

Mensa currently houses 25 D2C brands across segments, including fashion, home, beauty & FMCG, and claims to have served more than 10 million customers. With offices across Bangalore, Mumbai, Gurgaon, UAE, and the US, Mensa has grown to a 700-strong team.  

Ananth Narayanan, Founder & CEO of Mensa Brands, said on the fundraise, “The growth of our business in India and around the world continues to be phenomenal. We are pioneering the path to an industry-first tech-led house of brands with our five breakout category leaders. With this additional capital, we will be able to double down on our growth ambition.”

TradeCred, meanwhile, dispenses debt for start-ups and manages an AUM of over Rs 2,200 crore with INR 2,200+ crores of AUM. As part of Mensa's latest Rs 300 crore-financing arrangement, 50 Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNIs) also participated.

 Hardik Shah, Founder of TradeCred, said in a statement, “TradeCred is delighted to partner with Mensa Brands, the market leader and fastest-growing company in its space known for encouraging ‘Made in India’ products to become global and enabling Indian MSMEs to reach the doorsteps of global customers.”

Prior to this, Mensa Brands has also raised funding from marquee global investors, including Accel Partners, Falcon Edge Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Prosus, and Tiger Global Management. The unicorn has also secured debt financing from Alteria Capital, InnoVen Capital, Oxyzo, and Stride Ventures. With founders increasingly protecting equity amidst a funding slowdown, debt capital has picked up over the last 12-15 months. 

Vinod Murali, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Alteria Capital, told Business Today earlier, “More start-ups are getting created, good quality capital is going into those companies, and markets are getting deeper. We are seeing greater acceptance for venture debt, and funds are also getting larger pools of capital.”

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