Indian Plant-Based Nutrition Firm OZiva Raises $12 M From Eight Roads Ventures

OZiva a plant-based nutrition brand has raised funding of $12 million from Eight Roads Ventures. The existing partner Matrix Partners India also joined the round along with F-Prime Capital. According to the company, the funds raised will be utilized to widen its team of 110 employees, R&D, add products in the minerals and vitamins category, and enter the kids’ nutrition segment. The company also plans to invest in its own manufacturing plant in Himachal Pradesh, India.

This funding has come in less than a year after it raised $5 million from its existing investor Matrix Partners India last year in June.

Founded in 2016 by Mihir Gadani and Aarti Gill, OZiva offers plant-based clean nutrition. The startup provides everyday nutrition and fitness products across categories such as; women’s and men’s health, skin, hair, and general wellness. Besides that, the company also provides its customers access to personalized fitness and diet consultations, fitness and nutritional content, and through its technology platform, it offers community-based events as well.

With 70%-80% of its consumers being women, the brand is now laying more emphasis on women’s health products. It is focusing on launching products that fulfill women’s nutritional requirements as the startup believes that women experience health issues right from puberty to menopause and with the right nutrition and certain lifestyle changes can make a difference.

Starting with herbal drinks and proteins, the company has now a portfolio of 15 products that contain plant, botanical extracts, and whole food-based nutrition. OZiva gets 50% of its product orders from its website and the rest are from e-commerce platforms such as Nykaa, Flipkart, and Amazon.

The core differentiator of this brand lies in building a tech-enabled nutrition and fitness ecosystem that brings together the goodness of ancient sciences like Ayurveda, modern micronutrients, and instantaneous digital community.

The company is presently also focusing on its recently launched subscription programme. According to the company, 3.2% of its total consumer base has already subscribed to this programme. OZiva is gradually looking forward to scaling its subscription to more than 15% of its customer base by the end of this year. In 2020, the company’s annualized revenue quadrupled and is already more than Rs 100 crore this year. In the next three years, the startup is targeting Rs 500 crore in annualized receipts.

According to the company, 35% of OZiva’s demand which is equally sought after by both men and women is from the metro cities. The startup faces competition from Amway, GNC, and Indian Pharma companies’ unbranded supplements.

The startup for its clean label market in India has a standardized set of guidelines. In February 2021, OZiva stated that it has become the country’s first certified clean nutrition brand for ensuring top purity standards across its products portfolio by the US-based Clean Label Project.

With an increasing interest of investors’ in direct-to-customer, brands like OZiva that faced difficulties in raising capital initially are now witnessing inbound interest from equity investors.