Smytten raises Rs 100 crore in Pre-Series B funding
Smytten has raised Rs 100 crore in Pre-Series B funding led by Fireside Ventures and Roots Ventures. The round also saw participation from Sharrp Ventures (Harsh Mariwala family office), Waao Partners (Pratul Shroff Family Office), Survam Partners (Munjal Family Office) and Sattva Group Family Office. The company aims to use the proceeds from the funding to build various tech and data solutions with applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to optimise the marketing funnel for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands starting from new product development to consumer acquisition and retention. Additionally, the platform will invest in creating a servicing infrastructure across the country, to widen the product trial touch points and strengthen the online service delivery to better the pre-purchase buying experience for consumers at scale.
The company believes sampling-led methods of customer engagement will change the way D2C brands and consumers interact, making it more immersive and experience-based, Siddhartha Nangia, co-founder, Smytten, said. “Smytten has re-crafted brand creation with the tech solutions built based on trial intent and feedback from millions of consumers. It is empowering the next generation of D2C and multinational brands with actionable insights and a captive audience to scale their business fast. We are launching a new brand a day on our platform and bringing more than 15-20 new products every day to consumers to try,” he added.
As per the company, Smytten plans to double down on its hiring across supply chain, marketing and other key functions. Smytten, currently, employs more than 300 people with focus on talent retention. It is scaling up its leadership team to fuel the next phase of growth across its offices in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
For Swagat Sarangi, co-founder, Smytten, the company’s mission is to democratise access and experience of premium and D2C brands for the Indian consumers by offering direct-to-home product trials. “We are building a tech platform to make the pre-purchase journey and decision-making process of consumers very seamless by bringing in the power of trial experiences, data, content and community all together,” he stated.
Smytten is at the forefront of the development of an enabling ecosystem for the consumer brand revolution that’s shaping up in India, Kannan Sitaram, partner, Fireside Ventures, said. “Its integrated approach to consumer funnel and technological innovations to solve the key challenges faced by many D2C brands, makes them the leader in a potentially $10 billion sampling and advertising market. The data-driven experiential solutions are already making waves,” he highlighted.
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