GOAT Brand Labs Raises $21M in Debt and Equity

The funding round included leading investors such as BlackRock, Mayfield and NB Ventures.

GOAT Brand Labs will use the capital to “scale” its business into multiple channels, including quick trade, brick-and-mortar stores and exports

Thrasio-style startup aims to reach EBITDA profitability in H2 of fiscal year 2025

Roll-up e-commerce startup GOAT Brand Laboratories The company reportedly raised $21 million in a mix of debt and equity from investors including BlackRock, Mayfield, and NB Ventures.

While the startup did not disclose the valuation at which the funds were raised, sources told Economic Times that most of the capital was raised through debt financing.

According to a report by Moneycontrol, the brand startup said that there are “chances” that the funding round size could go up to $30 million.

For the uninitiated, roll-up e-commerce startups are acquiring and growing many brands.

As per an ET report, the fresh capital will be used to “expand” GOAT Brands Labs’ business across multiple channels, including fast-paced retail, offline stores and exports, with a focus on emerging brands like Chumbak, trueBrowns, The Label Life, Pepe Jeans Inner Fashion, Voylla, Petcrux and Nutriglow.

“Our brands are seeing good profitability growth and several of them are just a few quarters away from crossing the INR 100 crore annual revenue run rate (ARR),” said Rishi Vasudev, Co-Founder, GOAT Brand Labs.

He also told the daily that the current consolidated ARR of GOAT Brand Labs is around INR 370 Cr, adding that the Thrasio-style startup aims to achieve EBITDA profitability in the second half (H2) of the current financial year (FY25).

Founded in 2021 by Vasudev and Rameswar Mishra, GOAT partners with D2C founders and helps them scale their brands.

The last time it raised $50 million in a combination of debt and equity was in June 2022. Before this funding round, the startup had raised over $86 million.

The fundraising comes at a time when the larger roll-up e-commerce space is booming. US roll-up e-commerce platform Thrasio filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and resurfaced three months later after restructuring its operations and appointing a new CEO.

In May 2023, Thrasio also sold a majority of its stake in consumer durables brand Lifelong India to its founders and other investors.

In the country, e-commerce startups like Mensa Brands, The Good Glamm Group and GlobalBees have also reportedly reorganized their operations and focused on certain brands to grow “sustainably.” Upscalio has even slowed down 15% of total employees last year.

GOAT Brand Labs’ loss widened by 158% to INR 80.28 Cr in the financial year 2022-2023 (FY23) from INR 31 Cr in FY22. Meanwhile, its operating income grew by 746% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 139.6 Cr in the fiscal year ended March 2023.