Actor Varun Dhawan Invests In Nutraceutical Startup Fast&Up

Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan has invested an undisclosed amount in D2C nutraceutical brand Fast&Up. 

In a statement, Fast&Up said that it aims to enhance manufacturing capabilities and scale up globally and intends to enter newer categories. 

The development came just over a week after Fast&Up’s parent company, Fullife Healthcare raised its Series C funding of $22 Mn from Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA).

Fast&Up manufactures products for active living, including nutrition and immunity, across segments. Chicnutrix, the other flagship brand of Fullife is an all-women wellness, beauty and nutrition brand.

According to Fast&Up, it caters to over 100 Mn consumers in a month. It launched 20 new products in 2020 seeing a 100% growth in the previous financial year, said the startup in a statement.

Founded in 2015 by Vijayaraghavan Venugopal and Varun Khanna, Fast&Up has pan India presence and its products are available through an omnichannel structure focusing on D2C, market places, and retail. 

Fullife, its parent company had raised $6.6 Mn (INR 50 Cr) from Amansa Capital’s Akash Prakash and existing investors Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and Sixth Sense Ventures last year. 

In 2018, it had raised $2 Mn from Six Sense Venture, and prior to that, Jhunjhunwala had invested $3.3 Mn to $3.9 Mn (INR 25 Cr to INR 30 Cr) in Fullife’s seed round.

Startups in the nutraceuticals and health F&B space include OZiva, Wellbeing Nutrition, Aquatein, True Elements, Supply6, Trunativ, Auric, The Whole Truth, Zinga Vita, Kapiva, LQI, The Health Company, Shunya, Akiva and DotShots. 

Recently, Bollywood actor Malaika Arora invested in D2C ayurvedic nutrition startup Kapiva and joined the startup as a brand ambassador. 

In October, fashion ecommerce unicorn Nykaa acquired Kolkata-based Dot & Key to foray into the nutraceutical business.

The nutraceutical market has been growing at a rapid pace amid the pandemic. The nutraceuticals market In India stood at $4 Bn in 2017, and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 35% to reach $18 Bn by 2026, according to a report by ASSOCHAM.

The market opportunity can be gauged from the fact that India is projected to have an addressable base of 120 Mn health-conscious individuals by next year, with nearly half of these coming from outside the metros and tier 1 cities.