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Online discovery platform Smytten has raised $200,000 in seed funding led by Rimpal Chawla, ex-MD of Credit Suisse Asset Management India, and Anuj Srivastava, CEO of Livspace.
Co-founded by two ISB graduates — Siddhartha Nangia and Swagata Sarangi — Smytten provides its customers an engaging and curated discovery trial and shopping experience for premium products.
Swagata was most recently heading business marketing at Google, and Siddhartha is an FMCG industry veteran and was a director at Unilever UK before taking the entrepreneurial plunge.
With the funds, the company will focus on products and services in premium beauty and grooming, luxury stays, and high-end fitness and wellness services, and consumer lifestyle products and services, the company said in a statement.
The premium and super-premium market has grown exponentially in the last three years in India. Currently, the categories Smytten has a presence in are pegged at $6 billion and are estimated to touch $20 billion by 2020.
The start-up aims to be the top-of-mind choice for India’s high-spending consumers called HENRY (High Earning, but Not Rich Yet), a rapidly growing market, estimated by some reports to currently be in the range of 20-25 million.
Smytten’s differentiation is its focus on curation, offered by few platforms in India. The company caters to individual consumer needs, helping them sift through the information overload, in the process connecting brands with the right audience.
According to Swagat Sarangi, “Despite the huge market for premium products and services, the information available is fragmented, interaction with brands sub-optimal, trial avenues limited, and the sector has massive consumer trust issues due to counterfeit products.
He further added that Smytten solves these challenges and offers what consumers in this segment value — one-stop discovery, free trials for experiencing the brands, and recommendations for making purchase decisions.
Smytten also offers assisted shopping and for the more advanced shopper, features such as customised offers and the ability to build their own likes list for regular purchases. Smytten has tied up with more than 50 premium/super-premium brands to offer consumers genuine sampling experiences and the opportunity to purchase online.
“We are excited to go live with Smytten. By offering consumers premium brands, sampling opportunities, curated content, and expert recommendations we are put at the high end of e-commerce and engagement. We believe we have hit the sweet spot with both consumers and brands. Our immediate focus is India and over the next three years we aim to be a global destination," said Siddharth.
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