Plan to make 20 more acquisitions; may explore IPO: Saurabh Varma of Wondrlab

New Delhi: Wondrlab, the platform-first martech network, is seeing an impressive 185% growth in FY2025. Recently, the company completed its sixth acquisition, influencer marketing company OPA, as part of an ambitious plan to acquire 26 agencies across three phases. 

Founder and CEO Saurabh Varma told BestMediaInfo.com that Wondrlab might consider an IPO as it continues to scale its operations.

“At the moment, Wondrlab is growing by 185%. Last year, we grew by 200%. Most of the growth is organic. However, we expect the growth to slow down in Q4,” stated Varma. 

He added, "Launching an IPO is a possibility for us, depending on our ability to scale, valuation, and market conditions."

Speaking about their growth plan, Varma explained, “Wondrlab is not yet four years old, and we are currently in the second phase of our three-phase strategy. Out of the 26 planned acquisitions, we’ve already completed six. As we progress through these phases, if we achieve the right scale and size, an IPO could be a natural next step.”

Launched in November 2020 by Saurabh Varma, Vandana Verma, and Rakesh Hinduja, Wondrlab secured $7 million in pre-series funding in 2021 to fuel its inorganic growth, focusing on tech, digital, programmatic advertising, and platforms.

Wondrlab's first acquisition came quickly, with the purchase of Amit Akali’s creative agency, What’s Your Problem (WYP), in December 2020. 

Following this, Wondrlab embarked on an acquisition spree, acquiring influencer marketing company Opportune and performance marketing agency Neon in 2022, as well as Salesforce consultancy and data analytics firm Cymetrix and Polish agency WebTalk in 2023, marking its entry into the European market. Its latest addition is another influencer marketing agency, OPA.

Highlighting Wondrlab's acquisition strategy, Varma stressed that the company is not looking to compete with legacy advertising networks. 

"While we are acquiring companies, we don’t want to follow the traditional path where networks expanded by acquiring creative agencies. Instead, we are focusing on acquiring companies that are relevant in today’s landscape. A prime example is OPA, our latest acquisition in the influencer marketing space,” Varma explained.

Wondrlab is actively exploring acquisitions in several key areas where it sees growth potential. According to Varma, the company is particularly focused on expanding its presence in ad tech and martech. Additionally, Wondrlab is looking to enter the UI/UX space and explore tech solutions, such as Adobe products. The company is also keen on commerce media and data-driven businesses. 

Varma emphasised that Wondrlab is open to acquiring companies with exceptional founders who have built innovative solutions in these fields, as part of its broader growth strategy.