Thrasio style e-commerce venture 10club, a six-month-old Indian startup, said on Tuesday it has raised $40 million, in what is one of the largest seed financing rounds in the South Asian market.
The round was co-led by Fireside Ventures and an undisclosed global investor. HeyDay, PDS international, Class 5 Global, Secocha Ventures, and hardware startup boAt founders Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta have also participated in the round.
10club acquires small brands that sell their products on e-commerce platforms and scale those businesses.
10club will be using the funds raised to expand its portfolio of brands, invest in building its technology stack, and for working capital purposes.
As part of the deal, Vinay Singh, partner at Fireside Ventures will also be joining 10club’s board.
“India and online-first brands are at the cusp of the next revolution. We, at Fireside, believe that both VC and acquisition driven models will co-exist going forward and can turbocharge the growth of early-stage brands. Together with the team at 10Club, we will be able to drive this change and enable e-commerce entrepreneurs to realize the full potential of their brands,” said Vinay Singh.
Investors globally have taken a huge interest n this emerging Thrasio model in India.
“This funding from our international partner, who comes with a great understanding of this model globally and Fireside Ventures, who have successfully championed building many consumer-focused brands, is an important milestone in 10club’s journey. Having HeyDay participate in the round also gives us the opportunity to learn from operators. We have already built our foundational pillars of the centralized platform,” said Bhavna Suresh, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of 10club.
“Consumer spending continues to accelerate globally and third-party sellers across marketplaces like Amazong and Flipkart are the driving force behind this trend that is here to stay. I am determined to work with the team to make 10club the go-to destination for the most talented sellers and entrepreneurs who want to take their brands to the next level,” said Joel Ayala, partner at Class 5 Global who also serves as chairman of 10club’s board.
Earlier this year, Myntra and Medlife executive Ananth Narayanan founded Mensa Brands, a Thrasio-style venture, and raised $50 million as part of its Series A led by Accel, Falcon Edge Capital, and Norwest Venture Parnters.
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