D2C Brand Innovist Raises $7 Million in Series A Funding Led by Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund

• ByStartupStory     |    November 29, 2023

Innovist, the parent company overseeing prominent direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands like Bare Anatomy and Chemist at Play, has successfully raised $7 million in its recent Series A funding round, spearheaded by Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund. Notably, this round also saw active participation from existing investors such as 72 Ventures, the family office of Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar, and former KKR India head Sanjay Nayar, alongside Accel India and Sauce.vc.

The funding infusion aims to fuel Innovist’s endeavors in product innovation, market expansion, and team augmentation, according to reports from multiple media sources. Established in 2018 by Rohit Chawla, Sifat Khurana, and Vimal Bhola, Innovist specializes in personal care products and currently manages three distinct brands: Bare Anatomy, Chemist at Play, and SunScoop. The startup employs an omnichannel model for product distribution.

In the preceding year, Innovist secured $3.5 million in its pre-series A funding round, led by Accel Partners and 72 Ventures. This was preceded by a funding round in 2021 that yielded $2.5 million. With the recent Series A funding, Innovist’s total funding has now surpassed $13 million.

Amazon’s strategic venture fund, Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund, assumed a pivotal role in this funding round. Launched in 2021 with an initial corpus of $250 million, the fund has been actively investing in early-stage Indian startups across diverse sectors, including financial services, healthcare, and consumer tech. By May of the current year, it had directed funding to five companies, with the latest being Innovist.

This funding momentum in the Indian startup landscape extends beyond Innovist. In May, D2C menswear startup XYXX secured $13.5 million in its Series C funding round, with Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund taking the lead. The venture fund’s portfolio also encompasses notable entities such as The Good Glamm Group, M1 Xchange, Fitterfly, and others.

A market analysis by Inc42 suggests that the Indian e-commerce ecosystem is poised to evolve into a $400 billion opportunity by 2030. The beauty and personal care segment, a focal point for Innovist, is projected to reach a substantial size of $28 billion, demonstrating a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27% between 2022 and 2030. This underscores the significant potential and attractiveness of the sector for investors and industry players alike.

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