Former CEO of foodpanda, Rocket Internet Asia build e-commerce startup with US$40m seed funding

UNA Brands, an e-commerce startup based in Singapore, has raised US$40 million in a seed round to buy and scale e-commerce brands based in the Asia-Pacific.

The round, which comprised majority debt financing, was led by Kingsway Capital. Debt was raised from a large international debt fund that has invested in similar businesses in other geographies, said Kiren Tanna, chief executive officer (CEO) of Una Brands.

500 Startups, 468 Capital, Presight Capital and Global Founders Capital participated in the funding round. Una Brands has also secured investment from Maximilian Bittner, the founder of Lazada and CEO of e-commerce platform Vestiaire Collective.

Una Brands uses technology to optimise and automate product placement and marketing across a range of distribution channels. It was founded last year by Mr Tanna, the former CEO of Rocket Internet Asia and co-founder of foodpanda and budget hotel chain ZEN Rooms.

Una Brands will focus on acquiring companies with strong independent branding and which have annual revenue of between US$300,000 and US$20 million.

It is platform-agnostic, and can acquire businesses across leading e-commerce platforms including Amazon, Lazada, Shopee, Shopify and more.

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The company has already closed deals with several businesses in the region. Mr Tanna told The Business Times that the deal values for the acquisitions are in the range of US$600,000 to US$3 million. All transactions were funded through the seed round.

Una Brands' current focus is on acquiring 100 per cent of high-potential, category-winning brands. It may consider strategic or growth investments in the future.

The company sees enormous potential for e-commerce growth in the region, with an estimated more than 10 million third-party sellers on platforms in the Asia-Pacific.

"When a business gets beyond a certain size, the business owners find that they do not have the time to do what they love as they get bogged down in the operational process," said Mr Tanna. "They also often do not have the capital or expertise to take the brand to where they want it to go. By partnering with Una Brands, brands can turbocharge their growth into new markets and channels."

The company said it can complete the end-to-end transaction process for acquisitions in under five weeks. This comprises company analysis leading to an offer and signing of a letter of intent, and closing procedures that include commercial and financial due diligence and signing of a binding purchase agreement.

"Post-closing, there is an integration period of a few months, when we work closely with the seller to take over different aspects of running the business on a day-to-day basis," Mr Tanna said.

He added that the deal structure includes continued engagement with the seller over an extended period of time after the acquisition, where the seller also shares upside from the growth of their brand.

Una Brands' other co-founders - Adrian Johnston, Kushal Patel, Tobias Heusch and Srinivasan Shridharan - are based across the Asia-Pacific. The team has expertise spanning e-commerce, operations, data analytics, private equity and investment banking.