Nitin Agarwal, an erstwhile senior corporate leader who ventured into entrepreneurship, is the driving force behind one of the swiftest Indian unicorns’ creations. Commencing operations in April 2021, Nitin established GlobalBees as a roll-up e-commerce enterprise that aggregated multiple smaller e-commerce firms. By December of the same year, he transformed GlobalBees into a unicorn company with a valuation of $1 billion. The company’s rapid ascent makes it the second unicorn in its segment in India after Mensa Brands.
GlobalBees is a startup that functions as an investment platform and is inspired by Thrasio, a US-based company that specializes in acquiring third-party sellers on Amazon. Nitin Agarwal, a former top corporate executive turned entrepreneur, established GlobalBees in April 2021, and by December of the same year, he had transformed it into a unicorn company worth $1 billion. Agarwal created a portfolio of several brands for GlobalBees, ranging from fashion, jewellery, wellness, personal care, lifestyle to eyewear, in just six months since the company’s inception.
Nitin Agarwal, a distinguished alumnus of the esteemed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, served as the President, Group CEO, CTO, and Chief Digital Officer at Edelweiss Financial Services, until he co-founded GlobalBees alongside Supam Maheshwari, the founder of FirstCry. Citibank was his starting point, after which he held the positions of Chief Operations Officer at various corporations, and was the founder of two enterprises. After more than a decade of serving as a corporate executive, Mr. Agarwal relinquished his lucrative job at Edelweiss to establish GlobalBees.
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In a mere three-month span since its establishment, Agarwal’s firm was able to secure $150 million in Series A funding from investors led by FirstCry, among others. In its Series B funding round, GlobalBees raised $111.5 million, spearheaded by Premji Invest, the private equity company owned by the fabled billionaire, Azim Premji. Softbank and Steadview Capital also count themselves among the company’s investors. As of December 2021, GlobalBees was appraised at a valuation of $1.1 billion, equivalent to nearly Rs 9,000 crore as of April 2023.
GlobalBees, under the leadership of Nitin Agarwal, has invested in roughly 26 companies and possesses a portfolio boasting over 55 brands. According to Agarwal’s recent interview with Economic Times, the enterprise presently operates one online store and intends to inaugurate ten more establishments in the coming year. He added that GlobalBees currently procures shipped gross sales amounting to approximately Rs 140-150 crore per month. GlobalBees is also among the largest third-party cross-category merchants, with 22 certified warehouses at its disposal. Mr. Agarwal has set a goal of achieving profitability and $1 billion in revenue for the company by 2026.
