Joybynature.com, an e-commerce marketplace for natural and organic products which is run by Pavitra Retail Pvt Ltd, has raised $1 million led by Mumbai Angels and Contrarian Vriddhi Fund in a pre-Series A round of funding.
Other individual investors like Abhimanyu Munjal (Hero Group), Vaaman Sehgal (Mothersons Sumi Group), Dhairya Choudhrie (nationwide network of Hotels – including Ananda Spa – and Malls), Somak Ghosh (ex-YES Bank) also invested in the round.
Joybynature will use the money for private label launch, hiring senior level talent and for ramping up its marketing and technology.
“The company is on the cusp of exponential growth and plans to change the way people buy organic and natural products online by providing a solution-driven buying experience,” said Shailesh Mehta, co-founder and CEO of Joybynature.
Founded in early 2014 by IITans Shailesh Mehta and Rahul Kumar, New Delhi-based Joybynature sells natural and organic products online. Mehta did his MBA from INSEAD while Kumar achieved from IIM, Ahmedabad.
The company has registered GMV sales of Rs 1.7 Crore in FY14-15. Joybynature works with more than 300 vendors across the country and gets over 65 percent of its orders from states outside North India.
Commenting on the investment, Samir Shah, Taha Nabee and Ajit Surana from Mumbai Angels, said, “Not only does Joy by Nature offer a well selected array of 10,000 products from a host of trusted brands, but it also has experts that give wellbeing advice through live chats and aims to educate people about health-related issues through well-being communities. Joybynature is a boon for the growing population of health conscious individuals. With a quick search and just one click, you can get products you seldom knew existed.”
Mumbai Angels has a angel networks of over 200 members across its Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore offices, and its portfolio comprises 77 ventures across multiple sectors focused primarily on seed and early stage companies.
Contrarian Vriddhi Fund- I is a SEBI registered AIF which partners with early stage businesses and the fund is raising capital from domestic HNIs and has already announced first close.
Joybynature competes with the companies like Naturalmantra whose founder Nishant Nayak quit to join Gitanjali’s jewellery e-com venture eGitanjali in 2013.