D2C Kids Personal Care Brand Tuco Intelligent Bags $2 Mn To Scale Operations

D2C kids personal care brand Tuco Intelligent has raised $2 Mn in its seed funding round led by Fireside Ventures and Whiteboard Capital. 

The round also saw participation from Ashish Goenka-led Suashish Group and angel investors like Vijay Nehra, Arjun Purkayastha, and early backers of brands like Mamaearth, Sugar, Pilgrim, The Whole Truth, and Mokobara, the startup said in a statement.

Tuco plans to use the funds to scale up its operations.

Founded in 2023 by former Unilever executive Aishvarya Murali, Tuco offers a range of natural and sustainable personal care products for kids, including soaps, lotions, creams, makeup and deodorants.

The startup also claims that all of its products are packaged in plastic reclaimed from landfill and ocean. 

Besides its own website, Tuco’s products are available on marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, FirstCry, among others.

Commenting on the funding, Tuco founder and CEO Murali said, “We’re excited to have the backing of fantastic investors who are in it to build a meaningful and sustainable business. With the strong traction we’ve seen for our range, we’re now ready to scale.”

Meanwhile, VS Kannan Sitaram, cofounder and partner of Fireside Ventures, said that Tuco has built a strong base of repeat customers and “is well-positioned to serve the market”. 

Tuco competes with startups like Mamaearth, The Moms Co, and Hopscotch, and legacy FMCG brands like Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and Himalaya.

The development comes at a time when a number of new brands are looking to grab a share of the fast-growing kids-focussed market in the country amid rising disposable income.

In August, kids-focused omnichannel retailer Firstcry made its debut on the stock exchanges. Meanwhile, Flipkart’s social commerce venture Shopsy forayed into the kids market with the launch of summer collection for kids earlier this year.

The segment has also been seeing a lot of investor interest. In April, kidswear startup Includ raised $1.5 Mn (around INR 12.5 Cr) in a round led by Incubate Fund Asia. Prior to that, Bengaluru-based kids audio content platform Vobble bagged $1 Mn in a round led by early stage VC fund Lumikai.