Boston-based startup Thrasio, a global leader in acquiring and scaling up third-party sellers on online marketplaces such as Amazon, will shift a significant chunk of its manufacturing to India from China as it steps into the country’s booming e-commerce market, Carlos Cashman, the company’s co-founder and CEO said.
While committing an initial investment of $500 million for the domestic market, Thrasio has backed its first company in India by picking up a majority stake in a digital-first consumer brand Lifelong Online, through which it will operate. The Hero Group and Tanglin Ventures are investors in Lifelong and will continue to remain invested.
Thrasio, currently valued at over $5 billion, buys small companies and private labels that sell on e-commerce platforms and then scales them up. The relocation in manufacturing to India comes at a time when several global players are looking to de-risk their production bases in the wake of growing concerns over China, following the Covid outbreak. Cashman cited the large size of the market and the rapid growth for making India an attractive destination.
Thrasio has thousands of products by the companies it has acquired that are currently being manufactured in China, according to Bharat Kalia, CEO at Lifelong. India is one of the fastest-growing regions for Amazon’s third-party marketplace, making it enticing for aggregators such as Thrasio, which has acquired 200 brands and raised $3. 4 billion in funding from top investors.
