Thrasio-style house of brands player, Mensa Brands, has acquired Mumbai-based home décor and kitchenware brand Folkulture for an undisclosed amount in its 13th acquisition this year.
Folkulture retails largely on Amazon in the US, Canada and UK, apart from various other online platforms. The startup is well known for its unique and elegant crafts, designed to embellish modern homes with a hint of bohemian culture.
“We have created a roadmap for Folkulture to grow 10x by 2025. We will also be looking at adding more channels and products for the brand in the months ahead, while also strengthening its presence in key global markets,” said Ananth Narayanan, Founder and CEO of Mensa Brands.
The financial details of the deal couldn’t be immediately ascertained. However, two individuals on condition of anonymity, said that Mensa ideally invests Rs 30-100 crore to pick up at least 51% stake in the company.
The company was launched in 2015 by Chaiti Jain and Rinkesh Mehta. While Jain had earlier worked with Reliance Brands Ltd in the past, Mehta had previously worked with Credit Suisse. Folkulture offers products in kitchen and dining linen, home décor, incense holders, mandala tapestry and other categories.
“With Mensa, we are positive that Folkulture will see exponential growth in the next few years, and we are immensely proud to have such an amazing team backing our brand,” said Mehta and Jain, co-founders of the startup.
Last month, Mensa became the fastest Indian unicorn as it raised $135 million as a part of its latest Series B funding round led by Falcon Edge Capital’s growth stage platform, Alpha Wave Ventures.
Founded this year, Mensa Brands follows a ‘house of brands’ or brand aggregation strategy where it acquires and partners with digital first brands and looks to accelerate their growth through providing on-ground expertise and tech-led interventions around marketing, and operations.
Mensa currently focuses on fashion, beauty and cosmetics as well as the home furnishing category.
Narayanan in a recent interaction with VCCircle said that Mensa is planning to acquire close to 40 brands over the next 12-18 months. The company is in the process of closing another 8 deals in the near term.
Within six months of starting business, Mensa has already raised a total of more than $300 million in equity and debt. It has also secured debt financing from Alteria Capital, InnoVen Capital, Piramal Capital, Stride Ventures, and TradeCred among others.
Other entrants in the thrasio-styled business model category are FirstCry-backed GlobalBees, Fireside-backed 10Club, Powerhouse91, Upscalio and Evenflow among others.
