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Smytten, an online discovery platform for premium products & services, has raised $200K in a seed round of funding led by Rimpal Chawla, ex-MD of Credit Suisse Asset Management India and Anuj Srivastava, CEO of Livspace and an angel investor.
Launched by Siddharth Nangia and Swagat Sarangi, an ex-Unilever and Google executive respectively, Smytten, helps consumers discover the premium products & services and purchase it online. The company’s personalisation features, with help of backend algorithm, focuses on analytics, allowing it to curate offerings for consumers as per their individual preferences.
Smytten also offers assisted shopping, and for the more advanced shopper, customised offers and ability to build their own wishlist for regular purchases. The startup has tied up with over 50 premium/super premium brands to provide sampling experiences to consumers and to purchase them online.
The company is looking to fill in the “bridge to luxury” gap for the Indian consumers. Thus, their model is to provide their target consumers an opportunity to discover and try premium products along with content for overall experience. In the first phase, the startup will focus on products and services in the premium beauty & grooming, luxury stays high-end fitness & wellness services and consumer lifestyle products & services.
“Our immediate focus is India, and over the next three years we aim to be a global destination,” said Siddharth.
Currently, the categories Smytten has a presence in is pegged at $6 Bn. “Despite the huge market for premium products and services, the information available is fragmented, interaction with brands is sub optimal, trial avenues limited, and the sector has massive consumer trust issues due to counterfeit products,” said Swagat.
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