Gulf Islamic Investments leads a $15 million Fundraising round for UpScalio
UpScalio, a brand aggregator and roll-up commerce startup, announced that it had secured $15 million in a bridge round headed by Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), with participation from a syndicate of lenders including Northern Arc and Unity Bank.
GII's sixth investment from its second Indian growth fund, unveiled in 2021, is UpScalio.
The investment comes less than a year after the company disclosed a $42.5 million funding round headed by Presight Capital in August.
The announcement of Upscalio's investment comes at a time when India's roll-up commerce market is seeing fierce competition.
Mensa Brands, a competitor, just joined India's unicorn club, with a valuation of more than $1 billion after raising $135 million in a new investment round headed by Alpha Wave Ventures (Falcon Edge Capital). In June of last year, 10club raised $40 million in one of the largest seed rounds ever.
Even Thrasio, the US-based firm that pioneered the strategy of acquiring private businesses on Amazon and scaling them up, has revealed plans to expand its presence in India, with plans to invest $500 million.
Upscalio, based in Gurugram, acquired investments in high-growth ecommerce firms that sell on Amazon, Flipkart, and other marketplaces in April 2021, and then worked closely with entrepreneurs to scale these brands.
UpScalio claims to have amassed a portfolio of 13 brands across utility sectors such as home, kitchen, furniture, auto accessories, and gardening in the last nine months.
It also claims that its current yearly gross merchandise value (GMV) run rate from its existing brands portfolio is already over Rs 300 crore.
“UpScalio’s core focus on operating brands in all-weather utility categories is differentiated from similar modeled businesses in India and globally. We have been thoroughly impressed with the UpScalio team’s ability to integrate companies and create value across digital marketing, product development, pricing, supply chain and deep analytics,”said Mohammed Alhassan, cofounder and co-CEO of Gulf Islamic Investments.
According to the company, UpScalio has created a team of over 120 specialists across functions who have the essential experience scaling online Indian businesses.
GII's sixth investment from its second Indian growth fund, unveiled in 2021, is UpScalio.
The investment comes less than a year after the company disclosed a $42.5 million funding round headed by Presight Capital in August.
The announcement of Upscalio's investment comes at a time when India's roll-up commerce market is seeing fierce competition.
Mensa Brands, a competitor, just joined India's unicorn club, with a valuation of more than $1 billion after raising $135 million in a new investment round headed by Alpha Wave Ventures (Falcon Edge Capital). In June of last year, 10club raised $40 million in one of the largest seed rounds ever.
Even Thrasio, the US-based firm that pioneered the strategy of acquiring private businesses on Amazon and scaling them up, has revealed plans to expand its presence in India, with plans to invest $500 million.
Upscalio, based in Gurugram, acquired investments in high-growth ecommerce firms that sell on Amazon, Flipkart, and other marketplaces in April 2021, and then worked closely with entrepreneurs to scale these brands.
UpScalio claims to have amassed a portfolio of 13 brands across utility sectors such as home, kitchen, furniture, auto accessories, and gardening in the last nine months.
It also claims that its current yearly gross merchandise value (GMV) run rate from its existing brands portfolio is already over Rs 300 crore.
“UpScalio’s core focus on operating brands in all-weather utility categories is differentiated from similar modeled businesses in India and globally. We have been thoroughly impressed with the UpScalio team’s ability to integrate companies and create value across digital marketing, product development, pricing, supply chain and deep analytics,”said Mohammed Alhassan, cofounder and co-CEO of Gulf Islamic Investments.
According to the company, UpScalio has created a team of over 120 specialists across functions who have the essential experience scaling online Indian businesses.
