D2C Wellness Brand What’s Up Wellness Bags Funding From Unilever Ventures

D2C wellness startup What’s Up Wellness has raised INR 14.40 Cr ($ 1.7 Mn) in its seed funding round led by Unilever Ventures, the venture capital arm of FMCG giant Unilever.

While this was Unilever Ventures’ first investment in the startup, the funding round also saw participation from a few of What’s Up Wellness’ existing investors.

The startup said it would use the fresh funds to increase its team size and develop new products.

What’s Up Wellness, founded in 2020 by Vaibhav Makhija and Sayantani Mandal, offers edible gummies that contain nutritional value. 

Commenting on the fund raise, cofounders Makhija and Mandal said, “From the business perspective, we at What’s Up Wellness have witnessed accelerated growth over the last one year… Going forward, we intend to keep scaling and fast-tracking the growth, while continuing to maintain a tight grip on our bottom line and introducing more highly-relevant products.” 

What’s Up Wellness claims to have grown over 12X in the last year and have an annual revenue rate (ARR) of INR 30 Cr. The startup aims to become a INR 100 Cr brand in the next two years by launching 12 new products.

The D2C brand claims to have served over 2.5 lakhs customers till date.

Prior to the latest funding round, What’s Up Wellness raised funds from angel investors, including cofounders of brands like Sirona Hygiene and Clovia. Later, the startup also featured on Shark Tank India and bagged funding from boAt’s Aman Gupta, People Group’s Anupam Mittal, and Vineeta Singh. 

What’s Up Wellness competes with the likes of Himalayan Organic, Wellbeing Nutrition, among others, in the fast growing wellness market. As per a study by the IMARC Group, the Indian health and wellness market is expected to exhibit a growth rate of 5.55% during 2023-2028 to reach a market size of INR120.3 Bn.

As a result, a number of startups focused on health and wellness have raised funding. Last year, Wellbeing Nutrition raised $10 Mn in its Series B funding round led by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and Fireside Ventures. 

Earlier this week, vegan healthcare and personal care product startup Fitspire secured an undisclosed amount in the Pre-Series A funding round.