[Funding alert] GlobalBees joins unicorn club with latest fundraise

Delhi-headquartered ecommerce roll-up company GlobalBees is the latest startup to join India’s unicorn club after raising $111.5 million in a Series B round led by Premji Invest. Steadview Capital also joined the round as a new investor, while returning investors SoftBank and FirstCry also participated in the round, said a statement issued by the company.

The company was valued at $1.1 billion in the current round, making it the second unicorn ecommerce roll-up entity after Mensa Brands which turned a unicorn in November. 

GlobalBees was founded in 2021 by co-founder at FirstCry Supam Maheshwari and Nitin Agarwal, former president and group CIO, CTO and chief digital officer at Edelweiss Financial Services. It had previously raised $150 million in a mix of debt and equity in July in a Series A round led by FirstCry. 

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The company will utilise the funds to strengthen its product portfolio and expedite efforts towards product innovation, customer experience, hiring talent and scaling its portfolio of companies. 

“We have a deep purpose to build meaningful products across industries that address unique consumer needs. With this investment, we are well set up to become India’s largest brand platform. We are an august company of exceptional founders who have built great companies online. With this infusion of capital, we can work together to take these companies global,” said Nitin Agarwal, CEO of GlobalBees in the statement. 

GlobalBees currently has a brand portfolio of eight companies, and claims to be in talks with 20 other digital first brands. In an earlier interview with YourStory, Nitin had said that the company will look to acquire nearly 35 brands before it completes a full year. 

GlobalBees focuses on digital-first brands across fast-moving consumer goods, home organisation, sports and lifestyle. It acquires and invests in these brands which sell through direct-to-consumer channels and online marketplaces to scale them to international businesses.

The ecommerce roll-up model popularised by US-headquartered Thrasio has seen multiple companies in India entering the fray. While Mensa Brands acquires and scales lifestyle, beauty and apparel brands, others like 10Club and UpScalio focus on home, utility and other niche categories.