Nirmalaya Raises $800k in Seed Funding Round Led By Artha Venture Fund.

Focused on curating & manufacturing natural fragrances like incense, aromatic essential oils, and ittars, Nirmalaya aims to capture the fragrance segment through new product development and international expansion.

Founded in late 2020 by Bharat Bansal, Surbhi Bansal, and Rajeev Bansal, the NCR-based natural fragrance brand Nirmalaya has successfully raised $800k in their seed funding round, led by Artha Venture Fund along with key investors including The DotIn Network, Shiprocket – Huddle Accelerator, Flawless Company Family office and other marquee angels.

Nirmalaya is a D2C brand that offers natural incense and soulful fragrance products. They manufacture and distribute a range of chemical-free, low-carbon, and eco-friendly incense & perfumes after processing floral waste collected from 300+ temples in the NCR region. They train & empower over 100 female employees from low-income households by employing them in segregating and processing flower waste with highly scalable semi-automatic machines. They retail their products, including Havan Cups, Incense Cones, Incense Sticks, Dhoop Sticks, Essential Oils, and Ittars, through an omnichannel distribution strategy.

With the global natural incense market raking up around $1 billion in revenues, Nirmalaya aims to leverage its unique range of products to gain a firm foothold in the worldwide market. Discussing the strategy to use the newly infused funds, Bharat Bansal – Co-Founder & CEO of Nirmalaya, added, “At Nirmalaya, we want to disrupt the way traditional fragrances get consumed. Our first step will be to expand our presence to the US & Middle East Asia regions by introducing unique and chemical-free fragrance products, including reed diffusers, and car & room fresheners, in these markets by March’23. This geographic and product expansion will be at the core of our strategy, helping make Nirmalaya a mainstream brand known for its pure, carbon-free, and long-lasting fragrances. Ultimately, we want the leadership position in the Indian and Global incense market and export our products to over 40+ countries within the next 18 months.”

With the company’s sights firmly set on amassing more than 2,00,000 customers across India, US, and Middle East markets, Nirmalaya targets to reach the revenue milestone of $3.50 million in the next 16-18 months period.

Speaking about their newest investment, Anirudh A Damani from Artha Venture Fund added, “We are fascinated by the solid business prospects of the circular economy. Therefore, even at a nascent stage, we are excited by the strong affinity of consumers to the Nirmalaya brand. Moreover, the founder’s drive and enthusiasm towards building a flourishing, socially conscious, inclusive business is a unique brand identity that appeals to the millennial consumer in India and overseas.”

Since launch, the brand has witnessed an average MoM growth rate of ~25% and enjoys a 30% repeat customer rate, one of the highest metrics amongst any firm operating in the natural fragrance market today. Servicing 30,000+ customers only from its website and selling nearly a million units of its Havan Cups, Dhoop Sticks, and Incense Sticks & Cones already, Nirmalaya is on its way to establishing its niche in the global landscape.

About Nirmalaya:

Nirmalaya is a brand focused on curating natural fragrances made at their facility, spread over 20,000 square feet in the NCR region, ranging from incense made of recycled flowers to aroma essential oils and soulful ittars to replace chemical-based perfumes. Fragrances are used to relax the mind and should not be harmful to the consumer, and that’s the vision of Nirmalaya, i.e., to offer fragrance products that are pure, chemical free, and carbon-free.

About Artha:

Artha Venture Fund (AVF) is India’s first early-stage micro-VC firm with a corpus of $33m. Since its inception in late 2018, AVF has primarily funded and supported multiple startups that operate as enablers and entities focused on solving the challenges of Indian consumers and businesses. The current fund allocates thematic investment for B2B, B2C/D2C, and D2C enablers.

Led by Anirudh A Damani, a second-generation investor, the firm has a network of limited partners, co-investors, founders, and family offices that traverse the globe. AVF’s portfolio includes Agnikul, LenDenClub, HobSpace, PiggyRide, Daalchini, and more.

Artha Group of Companies, the umbrella entity of AVF, has investments in 100+ startups across India, the US, Israel, and Africa, like OYO Rooms, Purplle, IconBuild, Tala, LeverageEdu, Coutloot, Karza Technologies, Interstellar, and more.