D2C socks brand as the name suggests. Seed round by a strategic, of an undisclosed amount. Founders: Shobhit was Business Head at Madison World (advertising); Saurabh is also from Madison World and from Jubilant FoodWorks.

Skincare brand with anti-aging solutions, just launched with its initial product. ₹2CR seed round. Angels include Aditya Agarwal (P-TAL). The founder was previously the founder of BOTNAL, another skincare brand.

Gut-health D2C brand, as the name suggests. It offers at-home testing kits (a saliva-based pH test for acidity) along with clinically validated Ayurveda-inspired nutraceutical supplements. $360K raised in this extended seed round. It has previously raised $500K at seed. Founders: Mukul, ex-NestAway, was the Founder & COO of YoloBus. Mansi is ex-Honeywell and managed Customer Experience at YoloBus.

Lab grown diamond and polki jewellery brand. Targetting ₹60CR this FY, from ₹14CR in FY25. Current stores: Delhi, Noida, Mumbai, Surat, Nagpur - now opening in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. However, IG+their own website contribute 60% of sales. ₹2CR seed round. Founder Ayushi Jindal is from Pearl Academy and was the founder of House of Her (fashion brand). Comps: Firefly Diamonds (WestBridge), True Diamond (Titan, Huddle, Zeropearl), COLUXE (angels), Fiona Diamonds (Venture Catalysts, AC Ventures), Limelight Lab Grown Diamonds, Jewelbox (V3)

Premium beverage brand (water,soda, tonic) sold through quick commerce and HoReCa (Singapore Airlines, Hyatt). The business is 85% HoReCa today but the founders see sparkling water + tonic as a ₹100CR market on quick commerce. ₹5.7CR seed round. Two brothers, the founders, have been building this since 2018.

Healthy snacks - protein bars and protein milkshakes. $2M seed, including Sim&San (law firm), angels. Founders Ankit and Gayatri are the founders of ice cream brands Hocco and Huber & Holly, Gayatri is a nutritionist by training. Comps: The Whole Truth (Sauce, Z47, Sofina), The Yoga Bar (Fireside, acquired by ITC).

Fashion brand, Thiruvananthapuram based. Fun shirts and sarees, here: https://www.mydesignation.com. $1.25M seed, including Dominor Investment Holdings, Green Trunk Ventures. Husband-wife duo Swaroop and Gopika have bootstrapped for eights years, out of college.

Korean/Korea-inspired lifestyle brand, retailing across four stores (BLR, HYD, Pune, Nashik) and online. Caters all things K - beauty, toys, home and more. Expanding via franchisees. ₹5CR seed round, including Arun Venkatachalam (Murugappa Group), Sangeet Agrawal and Navin Parwal (Mokobara), Yogesh Kabra (XYXX). Mohit is from sales (Lentra, Vedantu, Bjyu's); Gaurav was a Master Distributor for Revlon for a decade. Comps: Seela Mart (more grocery focused), Korikart (online) - neither seem funded. Japan inspired MINISO now has 300+ stores in India. As Forbes notes, India has seen "6.2 million posts in the last two years discussing K-drama, K-pop, and K-beauty trends, predominantly among the 19 to 24 age group." Read here: https://www.forbesindia.com/article/leadership/not-just-kpop-indians-are-in-love-with-korean-selfcare-too/94970/1

Sexual wellness products for women. 50K customers till date. Sold through D2C, Q-Com and selective offline retail. ₹6CR (~$700K) seed round. Angels in the round: Bala Sarda (Vahdam Teas), Saurabh Munjal (Lahori Zeera), Kirti Jangra (Animall). Founders: Sachee was a brand strategist at The Brewhouse, Himanshu has been running Creativa, his own agency, since 2010. Comps: MyMuse (Trifecta, Sauce, Saama), Bold Care (Rainmatter).

Smart lockers and smart door locks, with mobile notifications every time these devices are used. Manufactured in-house. ₹2.25CR ($300K) seed round. Thanjavur (TN) based. Viknesh, BITS Pilani, was an engineer at GlobalFoundries and Orbit Technologies (semiconductor manufacturers). Comps: OPEN/Openapp (Unicorn India Ventures, Axilor), Atomberg (Temasek, Steadview). Mygate (Tiger Global, Prime) has also launched a product line.