The Roll-Up Riddle

Roll-up Companies, Once The Toast Of The Town, Are Reeling From The Funding Slowdown And Grappling With A Debt Overhang. This Has Forced Them To Re-evaluate Their Business Models With No Easy Answers On The Path Ahead

- Binu Paul

When 10club, one of India’s rising rollup stars, announced a pivot to singlebrand play, the Bengaluru-based firm wasn’t just altering its own course but catching the pulse of global markets, offering a glimpse into what might be on the horizon for its Indian counterparts. 10Club was among a host of start-ups that emulated the model of Thrasio, a US-based e-commerce brand aggregator, in India and swept the market as investors eagerly poured funds into them. The frenzy was such that Mensa Brands, launched by former Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan, became a unicorn in just six months, the fastest Indian start-up to enter the coveted club.

What explains the tremendous investor interest this space saw then? The answer may lie in the business model. Commonly known as roll-ups, these e-commerce brand aggregators specialise in acquiring sellers who primarily operate on online marketplaces. The idea is to bring together multiple brands under one umbrella and build efficiencies through better marketing spends, product development, inventory management and supply chain management for rapid growth.

Thrasio, founded in 2018, pioneered the art of acquiring and scaling e-commerce brands, with a particular emphasis on brands that operate on the Amazon marketplace. Following the early success of the model, several others quickly emerged, including Perch, Heyday, Boosted Commerce, and Branded. During the peak of the growth years, some of them were acquiring four to five companies a week for about six months straight.

A SUDDEN END TO THE HONEYMOON

In 2021, the e-commerce surge, driven by the digital explosion during the pandemic, increased confidence in the roll-up model. Aggregators splurged to seal deals, buying brands at several multiples of adjusted Ebitda.