After Pebble, Mensa looks to sell its Renee stake-OxBig News Network

The company also plans to raise $100 million at a valuation of $850 million and shift base to India ahead of a planned public listing, three people aware of the development said.

“Apart from selling a stake in Renee, where it holds around 15% stake, Mensa is also likely to divest its stake in brands such Villain,” he added. A Mensa Brands spokesperson confirmed the Renee stake sale, calling it a ‘financial investment’. In 2022, Mensa Brands had invested in Renee, which offers so-called cruelty-free makeup products for women.

The stake sale may value Renee at ₹2,000-2,500 crore, a second person with knowledge of the deal said, implying a ₹200 crore value for Mensa’s stakeholding. Mensa Brands, which led Renee’s Series A fundraising, holds about 11% stake in Renee.

The Mensa Brands spokesperson denied other brands were up for sale, including Villain, a men’s cosmetics brand that it backed in 2021. Queries emailed to a Renee Cosmetics spokesperson remained unanswered.

Mensa Brands is also shifting its headquarters to India, joining a queue of foreign-domiciled startups such as Flipkart, Zepto and Dream Sports which have already moved, aiming to tap the country’s capital markets better.

“The company has initiated a process to flip back to India from Singapore. This is their preparation to eventually list in India going forward,” one of the three people cited above said.

36 months away

The Mensa Brands spokesperson said the IPO is at least 36 months away.

Founded by former Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan in 2021, Mensa has received some of the highest seed investments among Indian startups. It has raised a total of $207 million in funding, data from Tracxn shows. Top backers include Accel, Alpha Wave Global and Norwest Venture Partners.

Following a house of brands strategy, it has acquired around 20 brands in the apparel, beauty and personal care and home décor segments. The strategy involves acquiring multiple fast-growing digital-first brands and scaling them under a single roof.

With $200 million in annualized revenue run rate, Mensa Brands has turned Ebitda-positive, the spokesperson said. “We have been Ebitda-profitable month-on-month now.”

India has seen a handful of startups pursuing the house of brands strategy, following what has globally become known as the Thrasio model. Under this structure, one company would consolidate multiple small e-commerce brands and sellers under its umbrella, and run them as a single, organized company. By doing so, companies promise to expand operating margins by reducing overheads such as office expenses, accounting and legal costs, and other various costs of operation—leaving small brands under them to generate bigger returns.

Apart from Mensa, another key player that received investor love was Firstcry-backed Globalbees. Backed by investors such as Lightspeed, ChrysCapital and SoftBank, the firm has so far raised $280 million in debt and equity. Meanwhile, Bengaluru-based Boxseat Ventures Pvt. Ltd, which operates e-commerce aggregator 10Club, is close to shutting shop, less than four years after it raised $40 million in early-stage money. Other smaller players in the space include Upscalio, Goat, Powerhouse91 and Evenflow.