Smytten, an online discovery platform for premium products and services, raises $200,000 seed investment Investors are smitten with Smytten
By Entrepreneur India •
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Rimpal Chawla, ex-MD of Credit Suisse Asset Management India and Anuj Srivastava, CEO of Livspace and a prolific angel investor have announced that they will be investing in Smytten which is an online discovery platform for premium products and services. As a result, it has raised $200,000 seed investment.
"More of what you love' is the tagline that describes this totally unique, engaging and curated discovery , trial and shopping experience. Smytten is co-founded by two graduates of Indian School of Business— Siddhartha Nangia and Swagata Sarangi. Swagata was heading business marketing at Google, and Siddhartha is a FMCG industry veteran and was a director at Unilever UK before taking the entrepreneurial plunge.
Both of them saw a need to provide quality service for high-end brands in a crowded and cluttered digital space by building a dedicated platform to reach and engage the premium audience. Smytten is now boosting its team and building the core leadership team by hiring people from ISB , IIM and MICA with significant industry experience.
Smytten's main aim is to be the "bridge to luxury' for the Indian consumers. Their model is to provide their target consumer base an opportunity to discover and try premium products along with content thereby providing a more engaging overall experience to them. In its first phase, the company will focus on products and services in the premium beauty and grooming, luxury stays, high-end fitness & wellness services and consumer lifestyle products & services.
The premium and super premium market has grown exponentially in the last three years in India. Currently, Smytten has a presence in segments which in total is pegged at $6 billion. This market is estimated to touch $20 billion by 2020. The company caters to individual consumer needs, helping them sift through the information overload and also aids in connecting brands with the right audience.
Swagat said, "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. Smytten solves these challenges and offers what consumers in this segment value--one stop discovery, free trials for experiencing the brands, and recommendations for making purchasing decisions."
Duing the the launch, Siddhartha had said, "We are excited to go live with Smytten. We believe we have hit the sweet spot with both consumers and brands. Our immediate focus is India and over the next three years we aim to be a global destination."
Smytten also offers assisted shopping. For the more advanced shopper, features such as customized offers and the ability to build their own liking list for regular purchases are available. Smytten has tied up with more than 50+ premium/super premium brands to offer consumers genuine sampling experiences and the opportunity to purchase them online.
