Amid the market slowdown and layoffs, Ananth Narayanan-led Mensa Brands is looking to hire 700 people across roles and acquire 20 more brands to double its revenue run rate.
The roll-up e-commerce company on May 31 said it has achieved a Rs 1,500 crore revenue run-rate within a year of operations, with its brands EBITDA positive, and plans to become a Rs 3,000-crore run-rate business by the end of the year. Revenue run rate is calculated based on revenue over a specific period, usually a month, which is then multiplied by 12 to find the annual revenue run rate.
Additionally, the company currently has a 700-member team and plans to add another 700 roles across operations, and design.
Speaking to Moneycontrol, Narayanan said, “We are not a luxury brand. Our average order value is Rs 1000-1,200. So, that segment doesn't really get impacted so dramatically. Yes, overall demand will come down in the market for a few luxury brands, but we are reasonably confident that we can hit the Rs 3,000 crore run rate.”
Mensa Brands, which was founded in 2021, turned unicorn within six months of its operations. Mensa runs a model similar to the US-based Thrasio, which buys profitable, well-reviewed online sellers on Amazon and turbocharges their growth with technology, marketing, and product growth chops.
“We are still going to stick with fashion, beauty, and home, maybe we'll have one more segment. We're still debating internally, but we want to continue to focus on these. And, we have multiple brands that are now selling outside India, in the US, UK, Germany,” said the former Myntra CEO.
On acquisitions, Narayanan added that this year will be better for roll-up e-commerce as brands will be looking out for investments, amid the market slowdown. However, he does not feel that the dwindling consumer sentiments will affect the growth of the brand.
Commenting on its omnichannel play, he said, “To build a brand in India, you need to be both offline and online. And this can be done even in a tech-led manner which has been our strength. All brands over $100 million will be offline and online,” he added.
10% of Mensa’s overall revenue is now from offline.
Mensa Brands is one of the most well-funded startups in its space and competes with GlobalBees, Upscalio, and GOAT Brand Labs.
Commenting on the flattening growth of direct-to-consumer brands, Narayanan said, ”What matters is that your customers love the product, the revenue, rating, repeat customers. Secondly, technology helps a brand to organically grow without much marketing and advertising spend. All our brands are EBITDA profitable and our last months were the best."
