The pandemic bought about massive changes in the way business can be done. The rise of tech-supported startups that delivered everything to your doorstep, made everyone realize the innate potential of Indian startups, be it delivering groceries, online payment apps or even online education.
2021 witnessed many startups acquiring other companies, either to enter a different area or expand or grow their market share and presence. With Byju’s acquiring a record of 10 companies in 2021 alone by spending $2.7 billion, here’s a look at some startups that acquired other well-known brands and companies.
1. Cult.fit acquires Gold’s Gym
Health and wellness startup Cult.fit led by Mukesh Bansal, has acquired a majority stake in F2 Fun & Fitness India Pvt Ltd. This makes them the biggest franchise partner for Gold’s Gym in the country.
Operated by Cure.fit healthcare pvt ltd, Cult.Fit, that recently became a unicorn, acquired RPM Fitness, Fitkit, Onefitplus and even Urban terrain.
It will now concentrate its efforts on growing and expanding Gold’s Gym under the franchise model of expansion. They are looking forward to expanding into neighboring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan as well.
2. Pharmeasy acquired Thyrocare
Healthtech unicorn Pharmeasy acquired 66.1% stake in diagnostics firm Thyrocare for INR 4,546 crore. It was the first ever acquisition of a listed company by an Indian unicorn. The transaction was carried out by Docon technologies Pvt ltd which is a 100% subsidiary of API Holdings, the parent company of Pharmeasy.
3. Groww acquired Indiabulls Mutual Funds
Bengaluru-based Mutual funds platform Groww’s parent company, Nextbillion Technology Pvt Ltd was given the nod for acquisition by the CCI to acquire Indiabulls Asset Management Company and Indiabulls Trustee Company. Groww acquired Indiabulls Mutual Fund for INR 175 crore. The company, found by ex-Flipkart employees entered the unicorn club in April 2020.
The acquisition helped Groww to create more investment products with the operations team from Indiabulls MF joining Groww.
4. Mamaearth acquires BBlunt
The hair coloring and styling market is estimated at INR 6000 crore and is expected to grow at a fast pace.
Entering the hair styling segment, Ghazal Alagh and Varun Alagh led Mamaearth, acquired BBlunt Hair dressing Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, for INR 134 crores. GCPL will get 84.5 crores after divesting 100% stake in BBlunt brand and 30% stake in Bblunt salons. The remaining amount will be distributed among shareholders.
Honasa Consumer, which recently joined the unicorn club is the parent company of Mamaearth. It recently bought Momspresso, an online content platform as well.
5. Byju’s acquired Aakash Coaching
One of the most valuable and profitable startups in India, Byju’s acquired tutorial chain Aakash Educational Services Ltd in a stock plus cash deal amounting to $950 million. This proved to be the largest buyout for Byju’s and the largest buyout by any startup.
As mentioned before, Byju’s acquired other companies WhiteHat Jr, Osmo, TutorVista, Edurite, Great Learnings Pvt Ltd and Epic! too.
6. BharatPe acquires PMC Bank
In a first-of-its kind acquisition, where a fintech company in a joint venture with a non-banking entity acquired a bank business, BharatPe and NBFC Centrum Finance acquired PMC bank which collapsed almost overnight.
