E-commerce roll-up company Una Brands raises US$15m in Series A funds

UNA Brands, a Singapore-based e-commerce acquirer, has raised US$15 million in Series A equity funding, co-led by global tech investor White Star Capital and Indonesia-based Alpha JWC Ventures.

Alvin Teo, co-founder of regional logistics unicorn Ninja Van, also participated in the round, alongside existing investors. Una Brands had previously raised US$40 million - mostly in debt - in a May seed round led by Kingsway Capital, and joined by 500 Startups, 468 Capital, Presight Capital, Global Founders Capital and Lazada founder Maximilian Bittner.

"With this raise, we will continue to invest in acquiring great brands, developing our multi-channel capabilities, expansion into our newly launched markets and supporting our brands' growth," said Kiren Tanna, Una Brands' founder and chief executive.

Tanna was the former CEO of Rocket Internet Asia and co-founder of foodpanda and budget hotel chain ZEN Rooms.

Una Brands is one of several so-called "e-commerce roll-up" companies that have popped up regionally. Its business model involves acquiring independent brands across e-commerce platforms, with revenue between US$1 million and US$50 million. The company completes the transaction process in under 6 weeks, with flexible deal structures. Una Brands then operates the brands at scale.

Since its founding last year, the company has acquired over 15 brands. It said that the earliest brands acquired have seen an over 50 per cent increase in sales and profits since acquisition. It employs 90 people across 7 offices, namely in Singapore, Australia, India, China, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia.

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Nicholas Stocks, general partner at White Star Capital, believes that there is a US$20 billion opportunity for e-commerce brand acquirers in Asia-Pacific,

a region that is "unique in its fragmentation and requires strong local expertise".

Jefrey Joe, managing partner at Alpha JWC Ventures, added: "Digitally native brands in Asia-Pacific is a secular trend growing at 4 times the rate of those in the West. We believe Una Brands' value proposition will resonate with brands across the region and further propel the growth of D2C (direct to consumer) in countries such as Indonesia."