Smytten, a product sample and interaction platform for direct-to-consumer manufacturers, has secured Rs 100 crore (about $15 million) in a new round of investment headed by previous backers Fireside Ventures and Roots Ventures.
Marico NSE 1.15 percent chairman Harsh Mariwala’s family office Sharrp Ventures, Einfochips founder and CEO Pratul Shroff’s family office Waao Partners, Rockman Industries chairman Suman Kant Munjal’s family office Survam Partners, and Sattva Group family office also invested in the round.
Smytten intends to use the capital to employ technical expertise and improve its tech infrastructure for brand creation and client acquisition using AI and ML (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning).
The online marketplace for product trials, which was founded in 2015 by ex-Googler Swagat Sarangi and ex-Unilever executive Siddhartha Nangia, features consumer brand items from various categories such as perfumes, beauty & cosmetics, male grooming, food & drinks, and others. It provides product samples to customers in these categories and asks for real-time feedback afterwards.
The company generates money from three sources: business-to-consumer product sample sales, brand commission on product sales, and data sharing to brands based on product samples and consumer feedback analysis.
Around 40% comes from B2C (business-to-consumer) sampling, 20%-25% from brand commissions, and the balance through sampling analysis and data sharing.
In the following 24 months, the firm, which is based in India, will expand into worldwide markets.
Smytten now has 920 brands on its platform, with plans to add 700 more in the next 12 months. It is also in talks with roughly 12 multinational companies, with plans to launch in India in the coming months.
Smytten secured $6 million in a Series A investment round headed by Fireside Ventures in August 2021. Roots Ventures provided $1.5 million in its pre-Series A investment.
Smytten’s platform features D2C (direct-to-consumer) companies such as Mamaearth, Plum, MCaffeine, Wow Skin, Maybelline, Man Matters, Bodywise, The Man Company, and more.
