Urban-i is a consumer brand-focused accelerator started in December 2019
The programme will invest between $50K – $100K at the beginning
Selected startups include Smitch, SoulFuel, and Tasty Tales among others
Anthill Ventures have shortlisted seven startups for its consumer brand accelerator Urban-i. The selected startups are focused on building solutions ranging across personal care, fashion, food and beverages, nutrition, and more.
The shortlisted startups include Herringbone & Sui, Smitch, Living Food Company, RE/MIND, Pulp, Tasty Tales, and SoulFuel. Each selected startup will receive initial funding of $50K – $100K, and an opportunity to raise another $1 Mn from Anthill and other co-investors at the end of the programme.
Urban-i was started by Rana Daggubati and Anthill Ventures in December 2019. The six-month-long accelerator programme is focused on accelerating the scale of consumer brand startups in India. The first cohort of Urban-i have been selected from over 80 applications received across India and abroad.
“The selected startups will connect with Anthill’s global market access channels. They will benefit from a through marketing and sales/distribution strategy to capture market share in the urban Indian market,” said Prasad Vanga, founder and CEO of Anthill Ventures.
Here are the seven startups in the first cohort of Urban-i:
Herringbone & Sui
Founded by Kabir Mehra and Samarth Hegde in 2014, Herringbone & Sui is an affordable custom clothing brand. It offers a range of men’s clothing including both Indian and western wear.
Smitch
Coimbatore-based Smitch is an affordable IoT company focused on creating smart home technology. The company claims to have a compact home automation module that allows customers to control and schedule any home appliance.
Living Food Co.
Bengaluru-based Living Food Company is an organic food subscription company. Its products include farm to fork microgreens, sourdough bread, kombucha, and vegan cheese among others.
RE/MIND Wellness
RE/MIND is a customised wellness programme that offers wellness solutions in a physical and a virtual environment. The company is focused on addressing issues around mindfulness, meditation, breathing, sexual health and sustainable lifestyles.
PULP Cosmetics
Pulp aims to be the ‘go-to’ skincare brand for millennials with its ‘good for you and good for the planet’ approach. The company products’ have a shorter shelf life as compared to traditional cosmetics brands because of the lack of chemicals in its products.
Tasty Tales
Tasty Tales is a range of ready-to-cook packaged curry pastes for local Indian style curries. The company claims that consumers can make authentic homestyle dishes in less than 20 minutes, using its pastes.
SoulFuel
SoulFuel is a protein supplement brand with products made of 100% whey protein, making it ideal for surgical patients. SoulFuel products also contain natural sugar in the form of date powder to make the product taste better than the available alternatives in the market.
