Distil Secures $3.1 Million in Seed Funding Led by Jungle Ventures and India Quotient
- ByStartupStory | June 20, 2024
Distil, an innovative R&D-led specialty chemicals platform, announced today that it has raised $3.1 million in a seed funding round. This round was spearheaded by Jungle Ventures and India Quotient, with additional contributions from prominent investors and operators. Notably, this marks Jungle Ventures’ first seed investment in India under its First Cheque@Jungle program, designed to support second-time entrepreneurs and seasoned operators at the early stages of their ventures.
Distil, founded by IIT Bombay alumni Atanuu Agarrwal, Karan Hirani, and Viraj Shah, offers customizable and scalable solutions via a tech-enabled platform for the procurement of specialty chemicals. The specialty chemicals industry has long been plagued by inefficiencies such as fragmentation, unreliable quality, long lead times, minimum order quantity challenges, and a lack of alternatives. Distil aims to tackle these issues through the expertise of its founding team, whose backgrounds span specialty chemicals, supply chain management, and finance.
The company’s offerings include tailored formulations and custom manufacturing to help manufacturers meet specific performance and regulatory requirements. Their tech-enabled platform ensures a seamless purchasing process, consistent product quality, and reduced lead times and minimum order quantities through a network of stock points across India.
The newly raised funds will be utilized to expand Distil’s teams in sales, R&D, technical/procurement, marketing, and technology development. The company also plans to develop proprietary products and establish itself as a trusted name in the life sciences segment, including flavors and fragrances, food ingredients, pharmaceuticals, and personal care, both in India and key international markets such as the US, EU, and MENA regions.
“At Distil, we recognize a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a global leader in R&D-led specialty chemicals from India. The support from our partners and investors, particularly Jungle Ventures and India Quotient, marks a significant milestone as we scale our operations. We are grateful for their trust and excited about the journey ahead,” said Atanuu Agarrwal, Co-founder and CEO of Distil.
Viraj Shah, Co-founder and COO of Distil, added, “Our deep understanding of the sector, combined with our entrepreneurial experience, equips us to build Distil on a foundation of innovation and customer-focused solutions. We appreciate our partners and investors’ confidence in our vision to deliver exceptional products and services globally.”
Rishab Malik, Partner, Seed investments at Jungle Ventures, commented, “We are pleased to lead this funding round for Distil. Their focus on solving supply chain challenges through R&D and technology aligns perfectly with our investment philosophy. The founding team is exceptionally strong, with a mix of a second time founder and seasoned operators of with over 15 years of experience in the specialty chemicals domain. The right founder profiles addressing a big problem. This is just the beginning with Distil and we are very excited to be part of their growth story.”
Gagan Goyal, Partner at India Quotient, remarked, “We resonate with Distil’s vision and believe it is poised to disrupt the specialty chemicals industry. India is emerging as a preferred manufacturing hub, and we are excited to support Distil in driving substantial impact. We think Atanuu, Karan, and Viraj have complementary skill sets and a serious right-to-win in this space given their experience and temperaments.”
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