SUMMARY
shumee sells handcrafted child-safe and development-friendly wooden toys
The toys are available on the startup’s website as well as marketplaces like Amazon
The startup has sold 200,000 toys in six countries since its launch in 2016
Indian wooden toy brand shumee brought actress, producer and social worker Dia Mirza onboard as an investor and brand ambassador. The Bengaluru-based D2C brand founded by Meeta Sharma Gupta designs ‘development-friendly child-safe toys for children up to the age of 8.
shumee’s toys are designed in-house by the startup’s designers and handcrafted by local artisans using wood, cotton and other child-safe materials. The startup has sold more than 200,000 toys in six countries since its launch in 2016. It sells directly through its website and marketplaces like Amazon.
Speaking on the investment, Dia Mirza said, “As a mom, I am constantly looking for products that ensure safety, are environmentally conscious, free from plastic and are made from a mother’s perspective.”
“We seem to have taken the real fun out of children’s toys and have in turn flooded our homes with plastic, but with shumee, what we have is pure joy with a promise of safety!” Mirza added.
“Children learn through play: learning should not be forced on them. We have over 100 toys and games at shumee and none of them are “educational” in the typical sense. They encourage open-ended play, led by the child’s own imagination and will,” said Meeta Sharma Gupta, founder of shumee.
“As the child plays, they hone age-appropriate skills including fine and gross motor and sensory skills in early months, and problem-solving, creativity and communication later,” Gupta added.
This adds to the growing list of Bollywood celebrities backing Indian D2C brands. Couple of months back, women wellness D2C brand Nua had raised funding from Deepika Padukone, who also works closely with the brand to ideate and create new products.
Last year, another Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt had launched a startup called Ed-a-mamma, which makes kidswear for children between the ages of 2 and 16. Bhatt is also an investor in D2C wellness startup Phool.co, fashion startup StyleCracker and IPO bound Nykaa.
