Direct-to-Consumer personal and home care products startup, Clensta has raised over INR 20 crore in a series A funding led by Venture Catalysts and Inflection Point Ventures.
Besides Hem Angels, part of Hem Securities Limited, N+1 Capital (RBF), the existing investors along with other marquee investors also invested in this funding round, the IIT-backed startup said in a Statement.
The funds raised will be used to scale up the company’s sales, ramp up brand marketing and expand Clensta’s online and offline presence across India. The brand has achieved a CAGR of over 130% and aims to earn Rs 1000 crore revenues in the next 5 years.
Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder and President, Venture Catalyst says, “At Venture Catalysts we give a lot of significance to startups that work towards making the world a better place. Clensta’s innovative cleaning technology reduces usage of water to a great extent. Clensta’s entry into the D2C segment is likely to create a new category of personal and home care products. We are optimistic that Clensta will become a billion dollar tech-driven personal care brand in the next few years. Wishing the team a great journey ahead.”
Mitesh Shah, Co-Founder, Inflection Point Ventures says, “D2C wave is birthing many innovative and disruptive brands. Clensta takes the innovation further with the introduction of waterless tech in their products. Their understanding of the fast-growing D2C segment and a varied range of products in personal care impressed our investors to lead this round.”
Gaurav Jain, Director, Hem Angels says, Over the next five years, D2C brands present at least a USD 100B opportunity. Clensta have been quick to capitalise on the product, innovation and price white space. There’s no better time than now for Clensta to get off their growth plan and take their product to the next level, witnessing rapid acceleration of scale.
The five-year old start-up founded by Puneet Gupta in 2016, started with the flagship products based on Waterless Technology (Waterless Body bath & Shampoo) to enable bathing without the use of water.
As a developer of waterless technology and the curator of this category, the startup has a big presence in the B2B and B2B2C segment. However, Clensta is now tapping the massive D2C segment with its Super Cleansers filled with smart concentrates for household cleaning and plans to launch an innovative technology based personal care category.
“Clensta matlab Cleanliness, our ethos revolves around Innovation, Science and Customer Centricity. Developing innovative technology has been one of Clensta’s foremost attributes ever since inception. Keeping in mind the Indian Home Care market size of USD 6.2 billion, we have adopted an omni-channel strategy to ensure Clensta’s presence in offline as well as online markets. In this light, this funding comes as an affirmation that we continue to lead in the right path. We will be focusing on developing innovative and sustainable products, enhancing our relations with customers and marketing and expansion of our footprints across the country. We aim to use technology to scale the personal care segment and provide personalised shopping experience to our customers.,” says Puneet Gupta, Founder CEO, Clensta.
“There are many D2C brands in India, while Clensta aims to have its own space in this crowded market. We have disrupted this niche but how! By ensuring that we need to be a little smart for the smarter customers, the brand has charted a growth path unlike any other in the segment and came up with a super cleanser with smart concentrates wherein you can make your own super cleanser with just the tap water. Also, it’s easy on your pockets as there is no charge for 90% of water content in a ready solution. Contributing to United Nations Sustainable Development goals (UNDP), Clensta pledges to reduce the use of plastic and contribute to making our planet better and greener for all. All these things clubbed together makes Clensta a scientifically driven and ecologically ethical impactful brand, added Puneet Gupta.”
A National Award winner, Clensta has proved its capabilities by surviving through the threat of developing and selling all together a new product, moreover entering into the strategic tie-up with Cipla is another attribute of fast trajectory business growth. The Company has registered 20x growth in five years. A team of IIT, IIM & SRCC grads, working experience with EY, Ogilvy, Xiaomi, Deloitte, ITC and some cool, creative minds made this possible. CA Pankaj Mittal, CFO at Clensta executed the entire financial transaction. Khaitan & Co. acted as Legal Advisors to the company.