Natural personal care D2C brand Nat Habit is set to conclude a recent funding round, with leading participation from both new and existing investors. This marks the company’s first funding round of 2023 and its second in the past 18 months, as reported by three knowledgeable sources.
“Bertelsmann is in late-stage talks to lead a $8-9 million Series A round in Nat Habit,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity. “The terms of the deal are in the final leg of negotiation. If things remain on track, then the transaction is likely to materialize in less than a month.”
As per insider information, Nat Habit is anticipated to attain a valuation of approximately INR 300 crore, equivalent to $35-36 million, in the prospective funding round.
Established in 2019, Nat Habit asserts that its range of beauty and wellness products falls under the Ayurvedic category, boasting an absence of any chemicals or preservatives. In April 2022, the company successfully secured $4 million in funding, spearheaded by Fireside Ventures, along with continued support from existing investors. In its initial financing round in 2021, Nat Habit attracted $2 million in investments, with contributions from Surge Ventures, Titan Capital, Whiteboard Capital, as well as a group of angel investors that included Neeraj Kakkar, Devendra Chawla, and Suhasini Sampath.
In June 2022, Bertelsmann India announced a $500 million fund to support new startups and provide follow-on investment in their existing portfolios. Nat Habit is set to receive funding from this fund.
Inquiries directed to Nat Habit and Bertelsmann yielded no response.
As of now, Nat Habit has not submitted its audited financial statements for FY23. However, according to data obtained from the startup intelligence platform TheKredible, the company recorded INR 16.29 crore in revenue during FY22, alongside a loss of INR 4.99 crore.
Over the past year, there has been a slowdown in funding for Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brands. According to TheKredible, in 2021, D2C startups secured $1.73 billion across 135 deals. However, this figure saw a minor decline in 2022, with 132 startups raising $1.38 billion. So far in 2023, 101 startups have raised a little over $1 billion.