After Raising $2 Mn For Its Social Networking Platform, Unikon.ai To Build A D2C Brand

Bella Vita founder Aakash Anand’s startup Unikon.ai, which offered an AI-powered networking platform, is pivoting due to high cash burn and now plans to build a D2C brand.

Anand took to LinkedIn to make the announcement. “After 18 months of hard work, I’ve made the tough decision to pivot Unikon. Despite our efforts, the market and project demands significant investment, leading to a huge monthly burn close to INR 2 Cr per month for a few years before we start seeing any profits.”

The startup now plans to launch a D2C brand as it looks to build a sustainable business.

“I’m returning to my roots: building a disruptive D2C brand, where I’ve driven growth and profitability before. This new direction aligns with my expertise and conviction, offering greater potential for success for my team and Unikon.ai investors along with a value product for Bharat,” Anand added.

Founded in 2024 by Anand, along with ex-Zecpe (acquired by Cashree) CTO Sumit Jha and Palash Arneja, Unikon.ai used to offer a social media and networking platform that leveraged AI to offer 1:1 conversations to its users on diverse topics, and a personalised content feed.

It aimed to connect students, working professionals, among others, with teachers, industry experts, and others. 

In June last year, Unikon.ai raised a seed round of INR 16 Cr (about $2 Mn) from Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath, Peyush Bansal of Lenskart, Shiprocket’s Vishesh Khurana, Dholakia Ventures, OfBusiness’ Nitin Jain, Vasant Sridhar and Gaurav Khatri of Noise, Tanmay Bhatt, Sharan Hegde, among others.

Prior to founding Unikon.ai, Anand founded personal care brand Bella Vita, which was acquired by Ananta Capital.

The development comes at a time when India’s D2C sector is growing at a rapid pace and is projected to become a $300 Bn market opportunity by 2030. As a result, the startups in the sector are seeing a lot of interest from investors.

Seed stage D2C startups raised $121 Mn in 2024, up 147% from $49 Mn in the previous year.