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Amazon likely to face investigation under EU tech rules next year

Economic TimesEconomic Times · 1y ago
Amazon likely to face investigation under EU tech rules next year
Medial

Amazon is expected to face an investigation by EU regulators in 2022 over allegations of favoring its own brand products on its platform. The investigation will be conducted under the European Union's Digital Markets Act, which aims to regulate the power of Big Tech companies. If Amazon is found guilty of breaching the Act, it could face a fine of up to 10% of its global annual turnover. The decision on whether to proceed with the investigation will be made by incoming EU antitrust chief Terera Ribera, who is set to replace Margrethe Vestager next month. Amazon has stated that it is compliant with the Act and has been engaging constructively with the Commission. Other tech companies, including Apple, Google, and Meta Platforms, are also being investigated under the Act.

Powerhouse91 hits Rs 100 Cr ARR and EBITDA profitability with just $2.5 Mn funding

EntrackrEntrackr · 10m ago
Powerhouse91 hits Rs 100 Cr ARR and EBITDA profitability with just $2.5 Mn funding
Medial

Powerhouse91 hits Rs 100 Cr ARR and EBITDA profitability with just $2.5 Mn funding Powerhouse91 secured just $2.5 million in funding from Titan Capital and a group of angel investors, including Haresh Chawla, FJ Labs, Crossbeam Venture Partners, and Mamaearth co-founder Varun Alagh. While many wellness-focused startups aim for rapid growth through broad product diversification, some like Mosaic Wellness and Innovist adopt a more focused approach—scaling a select set of high-potential brands by identifying underserved consumer needs and driving deep category innovation. This strategy allows them to maintain operational efficiency while building strong brand equity in niche but growing segments of personal care and wellness. One such example is Powerhouse91, which crossed Rs 100 crore in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in the last month of March, sources told Entrackr. “Besides breaching into the three digits ARR figure, Powerhouse91 achieved EBITDA profitability in April 2025," said one of the sources. “The company accomplished this through its focused efforts on two core brands and a strong commitment to financial discipline.” Launched in early 2022 by Aqib Mohammed and Shashwat Diesh, the company runs two consumer brands: Azah, focused on feminine hygiene and wellness, and Slovic, a brand centered around fitness. “This approach of not raising venture capital and focusing on organic growth potentially sets the company apart in a market where many D2C brands have struggled with high burn rates and poor capital efficiency,” pointed out a source. Unlike many D2C brands, Powerhouse91 relies entirely on online distribution, with most of its sales driven by quick commerce and e-commerce platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto, and Amazon. "In March, the company processed around 2.4 lakh orders, and its monthly volume is growing at a healthy double-digit rate,” said another source. According to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Powerhouse91 reported nearly Rs 40 crore in revenue along with Rs 5.97 crore in losses during the fiscal year ending March 2024 (FY24). Powerhouse91 declined to comment on the story. Wellness-led digital-first brands have steadily grown over the past few years, even as the broader D2C landscape faced headwinds in funding and customer acquisition.

Hindustan Unilever acquires remaining 49% stake in OZiva for Rs 824 Cr

EntrackrEntrackr · 17d ago
Hindustan Unilever acquires remaining 49% stake in OZiva for Rs 824 Cr
Medial

Hindustan Unilever acquires remaining 49% stake in OZiva for Rs 824 Cr Mumbai-based FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Limited has completed the acquisition of the remaining 49% stake in OZiva, operated through Zywie Ventures Private Limited, for a total consideration of Rs 824 crore. The transaction makes OZiva a wholly owned subsidiary of HUL. The deal shows a sharp jump in OZiva’s valuation. In December 2022, HUL had acquired a 51% stake in OZiva for a cash consideration of Rs 264.28 crore, which implied a valuation of around Rs 518 crore at the time. The latest transaction values the company at nearly Rs 1,682 crore and represents a more than threefold increase over a little more than three years. Founded in 2019, the six-year-old direct-to-consumer firm sells plant-based nutrition products across health, skin, hair, and general wellness categories. Prior to the HUL transaction, OZiva had raised around $17 million from investors such as Matrix Partners, Eight Road Ventures, and Stride Ventures. The company also reported a sharp improvement in operating performance. Its revenue from operations jumped 148% to Rs 258 crore in FY25 from Rs 104 crore in FY24 while losses declined 90% to Rs 4.5 crore in FY25 compared to Rs 43.5 crore in the previous fiscal. The deal follows a series of acquisitions in India’s D2C space this year. On Thursday, pharmaceutical major USV acquired a 79% stake in Wellbeing Nutrition. Earlier this month, Mumbai-based consumer goods major Marico acquired a 60% stake in plant-based protein startup Cosmix at an equity valuation of Rs 375 crore. The trend builds on last year’s consolidation, which included HUL’s acquisition of skincare brand Minimalist at a pre-money valuation of Rs 2,955 crore.

Voice AI startup Origa raises $450K led by Antler Singapore

EntrackrEntrackr · 2d ago
Voice AI startup Origa raises $450K led by Antler Singapore
Medial

Voice AI startup Origa has raised $450,000 in funding led by Antler Singapore, with participation from angel investors associated with Uber, SpaceX, and Salesforce. With this, the brand’s total funding stands at $1 million. The proceeds will be used to expand the engineering team, deepen product capabilities, and scale operations across India and the UAE. Founded by Himanshu Geed, Shubham Garg, and Sunil Jain, Origa builds a voice AI platform designed for complex, consultative pre-sales and qualification conversations across high-value B2C sectors such as real estate, education, and financial services. The brand claims to have grown revenue 12x over the past nine months and currently serves over 33 customers across India, the UAE, Malaysia, and the US, with zero reported churn. Origa processes over 5.7 lakh minutes of conversations every month and claims to support more than 1 lakh concurrent calls. Origa’s platform is trained on over one million business conversations and is designed to retain context across 50 conversation turns, integrate live CRM data, and operate with sub-800 millisecond latency. It is deployed as a white-label solution by enterprises and SaaS platforms including CRMs and lead management systems.

Exclusive: Tata Digital-backed Cult.fit tops up Series F with $10 Mn funding

EntrackrEntrackr · 2y ago
Exclusive: Tata Digital-backed Cult.fit tops up Series F with $10 Mn funding
Medial

Health and wellness platform Cult.fit (formerly Cure.fit) has scooped Rs 84.5 crore or $10.2 million in an extended Series F round led by existing backer Valecha Investments. The funding comes after a gap of nearly two years for the Bengaluru-based company. The board at Cult.fit has passed special resolutions to issue 1,55,080 equity shares to Extreme Brands LLP and 15,92,157 Series C compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) to other investors at an issue price of Rs 483.62 per share to raise Rs 84.5 crore, as per the company’s regulatory filings with the Registrar of Companies. Valecha Investments spearheaded the round with Rs 36.36 crore followed by Gul Advani who invested Rs 28.26 crore. Extreme Brands LLP (Exceed Entertainment), L&K Wellness Services (Reset Life) and individuals namely Surendra Kedia, Sangeeta Mansharmani, Shraddha Sheth, Nikhil Kakkar, and Prashant Machwe joined the round with the remaining sum. The company also raised nearly Rs 300 crore in the last quarter of FY22 (Jan-Mar 2022) from Accel, IIFL, Valecha Investments, and other individuals, as per TheKredible. The fundraise, however, missed the headlines. Overall, Cult.fit has raised over $670 million to date from the likes of Zomato, Tata Digital, Temasek, Kalaari Capital and South Park Commons among others. As per startup intelligence platform TheKredible, Cult.fit has been valued at Rs 12,400 crore (post-money). Post-allotment of the round, Accel Partners stands as the largest stakeholder in the company with 17.25% shares whereas its founder & CEO Mukesh Bansal owns a 10.5% stake. For more information, visit here. Cult.fit turned unicorn in November 2021 when Deepinder Goyal-led Zomato acquired a 6.4% stake in the company in a $100 million deal. Last month, the Tata Digital-backed company laid off around 150 employees to improve productivity and achieve profitability by FY25. Cult.fit’s revenue from operations surged 3.2X to Rs 694 crore in FY23 from Rs 216 crore in FY22. While it managed to reduce losses by 20% to Rs 551 crore (excluding the exceptional items or non-cash expenses) in FY23 from Rs 688 crore in FY22.

Fast&Up-parent Fullife Healthcare controls losses by 39% in FY24

EntrackrEntrackr · 11m ago
Fast&Up-parent Fullife Healthcare controls losses by 39% in FY24
Medial

Fullife Healthcare, the parent company of sports nutrition brands Fast&Up and Chicnutrix, recorded a modest 10% year-on-year revenue growth for the fiscal year ending in March 2024. However, the company’s core focus appeared to be on improving profitability, as it reduced its losses by 38.8% during the same period. Fullife Healthcare’s revenue from operations grew to Rs 188 crore during the last fiscal year from Rs 171 crore in FY23, its consolidated annual results sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) show. Fullife’s Fast&Up offers active nutrition, including protein, workout supplements, and immunity boosters. Chicnutrix, another brand by Fullife launched in 2019, focuses on women’s wellness with products for skincare, haircare, PCOS, UTI care, and more. Sales from these products were the company’s sole revenue source in the last fiscal year. The company also earned an additional Rs 3.8 crore from non-operating sources, bringing its total revenue to Rs 191 crore in FY24. Procurement costs for the sports nutrition brand made up 39% of total expenses, which increased by 3.6% to Rs 87 crore in FY24. Meanwhile, Fullife managed to reduce its advertising spend by 22% to Rs 46 crore. The employee cost for the firm grew by 15.6% to Rs 37 crore in FY24. Its freight, online selling cost, legal, and other overheads brought the total expenditure to Rs 222 crore in FY24. Despite the modest growth, the controlled cost mechanism helped Fullife to reduce its losses by 38.8% to Rs 30 crore in FY24, compared to Rs 49 crore in FY23. On a unit level, it spent Rs 1.18 to earn a rupee in the last fiscal year. By the end of FY24, Fullife ROCE, and EBITDA margin improved to -30.7% and -13.09%, respectively. The Mumbai-based company reported a total current asset of Rs 111 crore. Fullife Healthcare has raised over $40 million to date including its $22 million from Morgan Stanley in 2021. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Morgan Stanley was the largest external stakeholder with 27.35% followed by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.

Exclusive: HyugaLife’s parent Pratech Brands raises $6.3 Mn in Seed round

EntrackrEntrackr · 2y ago
Exclusive: HyugaLife’s parent Pratech Brands raises $6.3 Mn in Seed round
Medial

Pratech Brands, a digital-first retailer and parent entity of HyugaLife, has raised Rs 52 crore or $6.3 million in a seed funding round led by Spring Marketing Capital and Stride Ventures. The round also saw participation from Peak XV Partners’ Surge Ventures among others. The board at Pratech Brands has passed a special resolution to issue 21,77,817 Seed compulsory convertible preference shares (Seed CCPS) at an issue price of Rs 168.15 each for a consideration of Rs 36.62 crore or $4.4 million. In a separate resolution, the company also issued 29,735 partly paid CCPS at Rs 168.15 per share and 1,500 non-convertible debentures (NCDs) Rs 1,00,000 each to Stride Ventures to raise Rs 15.5 crore, the company’s regulatory filings with the Registrar of Companies show. Stride Venture and Spring Marketing Capital led the funding round with Rs 15.5 crore and Rs 12.5 crore investments, respectively. This was followed by Surge Ventures which infused Rs 10 crore. Oorumane Mercantile, Patni Wealth Advisors, Eco Power Systems, AS Desaai Consultants, AMD Consultancy Services and individuals namely Nihir Parikh, Dhaval Parikh, Sandhya Shah, Rohan Mehta, Suhagi Parikh, Nimish Shah, Prakash Shah, Nitesh Jha, Simraan Teckchandani, Priya Ujgaonkar and Karan Jindal invested the remaining sum. As per startup intelligence platform TheKredible’s estimates, Pratech Brands has been valued at around Rs 160 crore or a little over $19 million. To date, the company has raised around $9.3 million. Note: The information is based on the three separate regulatory filings filed in June, October and December 2023. Pratech Brands is a tech-first house of brands that focuses on products relating to home and health by uncovering consumer needs and building consumer brands. Its health and wellness brand HyugaLife recently raised $1 million from Stride Ventures, and Getvantage in January. The brand is also backed by Indian cricketer K L Rahul and actress Katrina Kaif. For context, HyugaLife operates under Hyuga Health & Wellness Private Limited and Hyuga Ecommerce Ventures Private Limited, the both entities are subsidiaries of Pratech Brands Private Limited. Additionally, Pratech Brands also owns Neesan Ventures and a natural healthcare brand for female hormones, Inaari. Following the fresh capital infusion, promoters of the company Neehar Modi, Sandhya Shah, Sachin Parikh, Shruti Parikh and Anvi Shah collectively own over 52% of the company. Surge Ventures owns an 18.6% stake while Spring Marketing Capital has a 9.4% stake in the company. For the complete shareholding pattern, click here. Pratech Brands’ revenue from operations grew to Rs 4.87 crore in FY23 from Rs 1.71 lakh in FY22. As per TheKredible, the company’s losses soared to Rs 25.39 crore during FY23 as compared to Rs 99 lakh in FY22.

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