House of brands player SuperCluster Pi has secured seed funding of $2 million (around Rs 17 crore) led by Bobby Balachandran of Exterro Inc, with Inflection Point Ventures, Hyderabad Angels, Faad Network and AngelBay.
The round also saw participation from social media influencers like Bhuvan Bam, Ranveer Allahbadia (Beer Biceps), Praful Billore (MBA Chaiwala) and Arvind Arora (A2), among others.
The startup plans to use 70 percent of the capital raise for acquisitions, growth, hiring and marketing. It also targets acquisitions of 6-8 direct-to-consumer brands over the next 12 months and also aims for $20 million in annualized gross merchandise Value run-rate.
The Coimbatore-based startup was founded by Vishnu Prasath Devarajan in 2021. In the last 6 months, the startup has acquired a total of three D2C brands over the last 6 months, reaching over 30,000 consumers every month.
“SuperCluster Pi is on a mission to make India healthier by curating all entrepreneurial efforts in the wellness sector together. We are committed to making a healthy lifestyle possible, accessible, and sustainable,” said Devarajan.
“SuperCluster Pi is unique in its proposition of making the society - people and business - work towards a common goal of a healthier tomorrow,” said Rathnakar Samavedam, investment director at Hyderabad Angels.
In the House of Brands D2C arena, startups like UpScalio, Mensa Brands, and GlobalBees have been actively undertaking investments in recent times.
Alpha Wave Global-backed unicorn Mensa Brands made some major acquisitions with the latest one in July 2022 when it had acquired Noida-based consumer electronics brand Pebble. Upscalio, in December 2021 announced an investment of an undisclosed sum in four auto accessories brands--Autofurnish, Destorm, Urban Lifestylers, and MotoTrance.