[Funding alert] Thrasio enters India with Rs 3,750 crore; buys appliance brand Lifelong

Greater Boston, US-headquartered Thrasio, has announced its first acquisition in India with Gurugram-based consumer appliances brand, Lifelong Online. This marks the entry of the storied e-commerce roll-up company in the Indian markets.

As part of the investment, Thrasio will become the majority shareholder in Lifelong Online’s business. Early investors, Tanglin Venture Partnersand the Hero Groupcontinue to remain invested in the brand, the company confirmed to Yourstory. Lifelong declined to comment on the goal-based investment model of Thrasio or targets which it will depend on.

Lifelong Online was founded in 2015 by former Bain & Company executives, Bharat Kalia, Varun Grovar and Atul Raheja. The company clocked monthly revenues of Rs 40 crore in peak months, it told Yourstory in a previous interview.

“Thrasio’s acquisition expertise and the strength of our platform across ecommerce, D2C, Amazon, and Flipkart are a perfect match. We are already in active discussions with a number of sellers, and we’re excited to help Indian entrepreneurs realize the full potential of their brands and products,” said Bharat Kalia, CEO of Lifelong Online in the statement.

The company will rebrand to “Lifelong, a Thrasio company” going ahead. 

Thrasio has also committed to investing Rs 3,750 crore to acquire promising, digital-first brands in India over a period of a few years, said the company. Thrasio did not specify the number of brands or the time period.

“In addition to acquiring and growing digital-first businesses, we plan to participate in the ‘make in India’ movement by transitioning the manufacturing for some of our products to the country,” said Carlos Cashman, CEO of Thrasio in a statement. 

Globally, Thrasio has acquired more than 200 brands and has raised over $3.4 billion in funding from the likes of Silver Lake and Advent International at a valuation of over $5 billion. The company acquires digital-first brands, providing them with data science, logistics, marketing, and other expertise to scale them globally. 

ALSO READ

Inside Mensa Brands' investment strategy

The Thrasio model has also spurred multiple e-commerce roll-up companies in India, including the fastest unicorn of 2021, Mensa Brands as well as a recent addition to the unicorn club, GlobalBees.