Mumbai, 13 August 2024: Beco, India’s leading homegrown eco-friendly home, kitchen & personal care brand announced today that it has raised $10 million as part of its pre-Series B round fundraise. Two years after the Series A round, this fresh infusion of funds was led by Tanglin Venture Partners, with participation from Titan Capital Winners Fund. The company also saw participation from Manish Choksi, promoter of Asian paints, existing investor Rukam Capital and Synergy Capital.
Founded in 2019 by Aditya Ruia, Akshay Varma, and Anuj Ruia, the Mumbai-based startup was born out of a simple idea of helping consumers make better and safer choices for themselves at homecare and lead a natural eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle. Having made a significant impact in the homecare segment, Beco has achieved an exponential 3x growth in the last year, driven significantly by repeat purchases across all channels. The fund infusion would be put towards innovation and expanding production capacity; developing a strong offline sales infrastructure in key geographies, and lastly, towards brand building and enhancing brand awareness.
Commenting on the funding, Aditya Ruia, Co-founder, Beco said, “Beco’s inception ties back to the simple yet profound realisation that as global citizens of the earth, we need to be more accountable for our choices and their irreversible impact on the environment. What Beco realised from day 1 is that it is not for a lack of intent, but a lack of viable choices that sustainable alternatives often get overlooked. This belief is validated by our success in disrupting the market consistently with innovative offerings, reflected in the growth we have seen in the last year. Consumers want products that are good for them, safe, yet effective. This round of funding from our existing and new investors comes at a time where we are raring to enter our next phase of growth and enhance our capabilities to meet the demand. The investors’ faith in Beco boosts our confidence that we are headed in the right direction and we are excited to unleash the real potential that sustainability and harmful chemical-free products holds for the future.”
Since its inception, Beco has been gradually expanding its product offerings that have captured the market due to the fact that they seamlessly address the intent-action gap vis-a-vis sustainable products, prevalent in consumers today. They are cost-effective, functionally superior to alternatives, and are transparent about the ingredients used. Recently Beco relaunched its household cleaners portfolio with an entirely new mix, achieving significant wins on key parameters, with the cleaner’s portfolio now contributing significantly to the topline. In the offline outlets, Beco boasts of an impressive presence in 10,000 retail stores, with order values matching or exceeding those of legacy brands.
Sankalp Gupta, Partner, Tanglin Venture Partners said, “ Over the last few years, there has been a marked shift in consumer preferences towards healthier, toxin-free options. Beco’s focus on product innovation and backend supply chain has enabled them to offer superior products at prices comparable to the incumbents. We believe this ability, coupled with their strong distribution across offline and online channels, provides Beco a strong headstart in a very large market. We have no doubt that this company will continue to be at the forefront of innovation in this sector, and we are excited to be a part of this journey.”
Beco is one of the few startups with an omnichannel presence. In just five years, Beco has established a strong foothold in e-commerce and quick commerce platforms such as Amazon, Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and DMart Ready. It is available in general trade across 20 cities and has entered modern trade, with plans to expand to other major players by the end of this quarter. Beco also maintains an active direct-to-consumer business to drive trials and has attracted the interest of several large multinationals, including Amazon, ICICI, Mahindra, PVR Inox and TAJ, for collaborations on sustainability initiatives.