Manipal Group’s luxury brand EKAM raises an Angel round INR 4.8 CR

EKAM (Aromee brands Pvt. Ltd.), incubated by The Manipal Group (‘TMG’), has announced that it has raised about INR 4.8 Cr in an Angel round funding led by renowned angel investors comprising Gopal Srinivasan (Chairman of TVS Capital Funds), Narayan Ramachandran (Chairman of Teamlease Services), N. Lakshmi Narayanan (ex-CEO of Cognizant Technologies), Radhika Rajan (Executive VP – DSP Investments). In addition, Deep Bajaj and Mohit Bajaj (founders of Sirona Hygiene – an award winning femtech D2C start-up), Vishal and Avani Davda (ex-CEO Starbucks India), and The Manipal Group have also co-invested in the round. The funds will be utilized for new product development, working capital, and marketing initiatives.

EKAM is an affordable luxury brand that provides premium quality consumer products in home fragrances and personal care. Its product range offers therapeutic and mood-elevating experiences to the aspiring new-age millennials in the form of perfumes, body mists, scented candles, diffusers, and essential oils, among others. EKAM also offers great gifting products for special occasions like weddings, engagement, housewarming and corporate gifting. EKAM sells the products on its own website and its products are also available on leading marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, etc. 

Ms. Aarti Koya – CEO, EKAM, commented on the investment, "EKAM's growth in D2C space with high conversion rate and repeat purchase frequency signifies high resonance with consumers. We will continue to grow by bringing the most innovative and the trendiest fragrance products to the Indian market at a price point that is affordable to our millennial customers. I am delighted to welcome like-minded and highly accomplished investors, who understand D2C space, to EKAM's board.”

India's fragrance market which is around $1 Billion in size is expected to grow by 15-20% to reach ~$2 billion by FY25, catalyzed by e-commerce growth. There are currently very few established players in the D2C space in this segment, and therefore, EKAM enjoys a first-mover advantage. EKAM plans to capture a significant market share in this segment through product innovation, premium product quality matching international standards, enhanced customer experience and engagement, and increased brand awareness.

TMG incubated EKAM with the vision to build a world-class brand in personal fragrances and home fragrances in India by leveraging on its corporate advantage of building global consumer businesses. The brand is looking to build a profitable INR 100 Cr revenue brand in next 2 years and will also look to expand internationally.