The company’s business model relies on identifying high-potential consumer brands, acquiring, and scaling them through growth capital, shared resources, and deep e-commerce focused optimizations
Powerhouse91, the tech-driven company acquiring and growing e-commerce brands in India, announced today it secured seed funding of an undisclosed amount from U.S.-based venture capital firm Crossbeam Venture Partners (Crossbeam). Crossbeam supports companies of the next generation economy and has backed similar major players in the U.S. market. Powerhouse91, one of the early entrants into the e-commerce roll-up play in India, was launched in early 2021 by serial entrepreneurs Shashwat Diesh and Aqib Mohammed. The company’s business model relies on identifying high-potential consumer brands, acquiring, and scaling them through growth capital, shared resources and deep e-commerce focused optimizations.
The founding team hails from an e-commerce background, having worked across companies like Snapdeal, Ola, and Oyo, and has previously built a successful online consumer brand, Azah, in the feminine hygiene category. On closing the fundraise, Nikhil Agrawal, Co-Founder and Chief Corporate Development Officer at Powerhouse91, said, “We are glad to have Crossbeam Venture Partners join us in our journey towards building the next big thing in Indian E-commerce. The team at Crossbeam has seen this ecosystem evolve from its formative stages and we see this partnership as a significant addition to our execution capabilities over and above the capital contribution.”
Ali Hamed, General Partner at Crossbeam said, “We see great potential in Powerhouse91 and the brand they are building. With their overall approach stemming beyond only acquiring brands to also growing them, Powerhouse91 is building a strong playbook to scale the Indian e-commerce ecosystem and we are excited to be part of the process.
Following the seed funding, Powerhouse91 intends to continue growing its acquired brands to a significant scale. Powerhouse91Co-founder Shashwat Diesh further said, “We intend to utilize the funds to further identify and acquire high-potential consumer brands. Additionally, a significant chunk of the investment will go towards building the technical capabilities required to operate and scale the multiple consumer brands running under our portfolio.”
Source: Business World
