On Wednesday, homegrown community-led personal care startup Arata said it raised $1 million from Nikhil Vora (founder and CEO of Sixth Sense Ventures) and Rohan Vaziralli in the pre-Series A round. Established investor DSG Customer Partners also participated in this round, along with the promoters.
The start-up plans to deploy the funds raised to create brand awareness, R&D, new product launches, and marketing and inventory building to meet the increasing demand for personal care products.
The Delhi-based personal care brand, launched by Dhruv Madhok and Dhruv Bhasin in February 2018, addresses the core philosophy of clean formulations, responsible practices, and sustainability. The brand uses plant-based ingredients to create safe, toxin-free skin, hair, and oral care products.
Commenting on the investment, Nikhil Vora said, “Wellness in everything that a future consumer will look for is one of the biggest themes to be played out in India. With its ethos lying in 100% natural, plant-based, chemical-free products, which are good for all, Arata may potentially be a path breaker here. I believe they have cracked the correct code in a cluttered personal care category.”
“Speaking about the latest development, the founder-duo said In the past seven months, our revenues have grown 2x. The language of sustainability, inclusivity, honesty, and transparency is spoken by consumers today. They create new patterns of habits and choose responsible brands that are not only healthy and effective but also have a positive environmental impact. As we aim to become a global voice with our unique product offering, the fundraising will help us scale up.
Arata claims that it is India’s first personal care company to use up to 100% recycled and recyclable plastic packaging throughout its entire range of products. It uses waste plastic from oceans and landfills throughout the world, and the plastic is sanitized, melted, and remolded into Arata packaging.
Arata products are sold on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Nykaa, as well as on the website of the company itself. The organization says that its goods are priced between Rs 249 and Rs 899. It claims to have a nationwide customer base of over one lakh.
Bhasin says that by March 2021, the start-up is on track to achieve an ARR of Rs 20 crore. Earlier, in a seed round led by DSG Consumer Partners, Arata raised Rs 3.5 crore in January 2019.
