Baby care startup Mamaearth raises $4 million in Series A led by Stellaris Venture Partners, Fireside Ventures
Mamaearth will use the funds to expand its team, invest in R&D, build a retail presence, scale up its direct consumer reach, and build brand awareness.
Gurugram-based baby and mother care startup Mamaearth has raised $4 million in a Series A round funding led by Stellaris Ventures and Fireside Ventures. Marico Ltd’s Rishabh Mariwal and Snapdeal Co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal also participated in the round.
The startup, which makes non-toxic products, said it would use the funds to expand its team, invest in research and development, build a retail presence, scale up its direct consumer reach, and build brand awareness.
Rishabh, who invests in startups in the seed, Series A or Series B stage, said in a press release, "Young brands like Mamaearth are disrupting the fast-moving consumer goods industry and creating a niche market for themselves with their unique offerings.”
Founded by husband-and-wife duo Varun and Ghazal Alagh in December 2016, Mamaearth is Asia's first certified toxin-free mother and baby care products brand. It has a portfolio of over 50 products, made using a combination of science and Ayurveda techniques.
The startup has online customers across more than 120 cities in India, and is present in over 500 stores across major cities. Products are also available on Amazon, FirstCry, Nykaa, Flipkart, and Paytm. Actor Shilpa Shetty is the brand ambassador and an early investor in Mamaearth.
"I'm very proud to be associated with a brand as honest as Mamaearth. With their philosophy of 100 percent toxin-free products, the brand resonates my values - both as a mother and an entrepreneur," she was quoted as saying in the release.
Mamaearth claims to have clocked an annual gross merchandise value run rate of over Rs 20 crore within two years of its inception, and is poised to clock Rs 100 crore by 2021.
"Our goal is to make Mamaearth a household name that is synonymous with a trusted baby and mama care brand. Within two years since we started, parents from over 120 cities have bought products from our website. We now want to build a strong offline presence as well," said Varun in a press statement.
Launched in 2017, Fireside Ventures is an early stage venture fund with a focus on consumer brands. It invests in young startups, and supports them through their evolution. Kanan Sitaram, of Fireside Ventures, said in a press statement, "We believe they are set to become India's most formidable brand in the space of child and mother care products."
On Monday, online parenting platform BabyChakra raised an undisclosed pre-Series B round from a clutch of investors, including Mark Mobius-backed Equanimity Ventures Fund, Facebook Director Anand Chandrasekaran, former investor in Lightspeed Ventures Maninder Gulati, Silicon Valley Tech investor Gideon Marks, and others.
Rahul Chowdhri of Stellaris Venture Partners will join Mamaearth’s board."Digital-first brands are creating immense value globally. Mamaearth is our first pick in this space where the brand, category, and values seem to be a great fit with our vision. We have immense trust in the founding team's capability to understand the problem and scale this business efficiently."