Smytten, which is a sampling and engagement platform for D2C brands, has raised $6 million in a Series A funding round led by Fireside Ventures.
The round also saw participation from Sharrp Ventures (Mariwala family office), Survam Partners (Suman Kant Munjal family office) and Waao Partners (Pratul Shroff family office). Existing investor Roots Ventures also participated in the round.
Founded by ex-Googler Swagat Sarangi, and ex-Unilever executive Siddhartha Nangia, the platform hosts over 700 D2C brands and has more than 5 million users.
“Pre-purchase buying experience will be the biggest enabler and will fuel the burgeoning Indian D2C market, which is projected to touch $100 billion in the next 4-5 years. We believe this sampling-led tried-and-tested method of customer engagement will change the way D2C brands and consumers interact, making it more immersive and experience-based,” the founders said in a statement.
“Smytten will empower the next generation of D2C brands with actionable insights and a captive audience to scale their business very fast,” the company added.
Towards sharper solutions
Kannan Sitaram, Venture Partner, Fireside Ventures, and new board member, Smytten, said, “With D2C becoming mainstream, brand marketers need fresh, sharper solutions that can help in creating the right brand experience for consumers who are on the lookout for superior quality products. We are very excited to partner with Swagat and Siddhartha as they create data-driven experiential solutions for brands to engage with the right users, based on very accurate behavioural targeting which helps reduce their CAC and engagement cost.”
How leading FMCG firms are getting on the D2C bandwagon
Smytten had earlier raised an investment of $1.5 million in its pre-series A from Roots Ventures. Marquee angel investors such as Rajan Anandan, ex-MD of Google India & South-East Asia, and many other industry veterans as its early backers.