Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl & Rohit Bansal lead Funding in Female Wellness Startup, Azah through their VC Arm Titan Capital

Gurugram based female Wellness Startup, Azah, announced the company has raised an undisclosed amount in Pre- Series A funding round from Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, Angel List India and a few other HNIs. The lead funding came via Titan Capital, a VC arm run by Kunal & Rohit.

The startup plans to use procured funds to enhance its production, launch new products and expand sales operations in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Co-founded by two young entrepreneurs, Shashwat Diesh and Aqib Mohammed in 2018, Azah focuses on solving some of the most critical problems in the feminine hygiene sector.

Founded with the aim to offer high quality chemical-free products in the female wellness sector, the founders obsession with the product quality, customer experience and strong unit economics has led them to reach newer demographics while driving growth to an untapped market.

Azah Pads

With a reach to more than 4000 pin codes all over India, Azah has a strong revisit customer base. Though the northern part of India has the biggest concentration of the customers, still, the demand for the product is fairly spread across all over India with regular orders from the North-Eastern states, i.e., Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.

Thanking the support of VCs Aqib Mohammed co-founder, Azah said, "The funds will help us continue further on our mission to make a woman's period easier by developing products that truly solve her problems. A good portion of the funding will go into research and development of these new products, while also helping us carry out further innovation in our current product line. We'll also use the funding to expand our reach to newer demographics while exploring alternative channels to drive growth and acquisition. We plan to double our monthly revenue by the end of next quarter."

Talking on the brand growth vis-a-vie funding, Shashwat Diesh, co-founder, Azah said, "The female wellness sector seems to be particularly open to disruption because of the relative lack of innovation over the past couple of decades. Due to increasing consumer awareness around menstrual hygiene, people have begun to demand better products and newer homegrown brands have stood up well to the challenge of fulfilling this need, and that's where Azah comes up."

Prakhar Agarwal, Investments Lead, AngelList India, said "We are excited to back Azah – an audacious fem care brand that’s taking on the personal care heavyweights with its healthier organic products. The founders have done a great job of building a brand that resonates with its customers and look forward to the new products they intend to add to their offering with this round of financing.”

Prior to this, Azah had raised a seed funding of  USD 200,000 from the group of Angel investors to expand the business and optimize supply chain management. 

About Azah

Azah is a premium female wellness brand established in November 2018. It caters to the needs of quality-conscious urban consumers and focuses on solving some of the most critical problems in the feminine hygiene sector. Azah aims to be "a one-stop solution for high-quality women hygiene products in India". And while doing so, it also stands for fighting the social stigma that currently exists in our society with respect to periods. Azah is growing at the rate of 30% Month on month with more than 50% of the revenue coming directly from repeat customers. 

Snapdeal Founders Booked for 'Fake' Products Deliveries

The police here have registered a case against Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal after a local Congress leader alleged that the online shopping site sent him fake products.

They were booked for cheating under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code after businessman Indermohan Singh Honey complained that instead of a Woodland belt and a wallet, he was delivered fakes.

Singh had acted as a spokesperson of the party during the recent Lok Sabha election campaign. He placed the order on July 17, paying online for it, police said.

In a complaint lodged at the city's Gumanpura police station, the businessman said he suspected the genuineness of the products delivered at his home, and took them to a Woodland showroom.

The staff there examined the products and said they were “duplicate and fake”, Gumanpura station house officer Manoj Singh Sikarwal said.

An assistant sub inspector has been assigned to investigate the case against Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl and COO Rohit Bansal.

Indermohan Singh has claimed getting a bad deal from the shopping site in the past as well.

He alleged that some months back Snapdeal did not deliver the wrist watch he ordered, while a message from the site claimed it had reached his home. However, he got a refund when he complained. PTI

Snapdeal Employees Protest Against Founders, Write To PMO, RBI Governor

A lot of things are happening in Indian e-commerce are as after series of events -- Snapdeal backed off merger with Flipkart thereafter Snapdeal's largest investor Softbank invested whopping $2.1 billion in Flipkart -- employees of Snapdeal have decided to protest by writing a joint letter to co-founders, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.

The employees -- both former and current -- have also sent copies of the letter to Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Finance and Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

In a letter dated August 3rd, reviewed by Moneycontrol, the employees allege that the Plan B or Snapdeal 2.0 plan is not viable and would only keep the founders in-charge at the cost of a large number of employees.

To recall, after Snapdeal founders backed-off from merger with Flipkart and this whole lot of drama when finally ended the repercussions of failed merger went towards the company employees when it was reported that the company will layoff 80% of its employees. Although, it was never officially announced from Snapdeal.

"An independent inquiry into the affairs of this company would reveal how the interests of employees and possibly shareholders were destroyed to protect the interest of two people," the letter reads.

The letter further reads, "We saw a proud unicorn change into a troubled company. But we kept the faith and believed what you said - the employees of this organization are your "single biggest priority".

The letter has also been marked to the managing director of Axis Bank, among at least a dozen other recipients. Last month, Axis Bank announced the acquisition of Snapdeal's mobile wallet firm Freecharge in an all cash deal for Rs 385 crore.

Snapdeal has responded to the allegations in the letter. "The board has made no decision with regard to the team composition for Snapdeal 2.0. The company cannot comment on baseless, unsubstantiated allegations made by unidentified sources," said a Snapdeal Spokesperson.

Sources close to the recent developments said that it was the disagreement between the entire set of two dozen odd stakeholders that led to termination of merger talks. "Founders cannot be squarely blamed as they had only agreed to the possibility of a merger and a subsequent due diligence early on," said a source close to the merger talks.

To recall, according to a Reuters report, while the board of Jasper Infotech, which runs Snapdeal, had approved Flipkart’s second offer, the deal was awaiting an approval of smaller shareholders, which never came. Reportedly, the shareholders weren't happy with the term sheet furnished by Flipkart as it was laced with a lot of 'hold backs' and 'clauses.'

Related Reading - Why Snapdeal Cancelled Flipkart Deal In Last Stage

The letter from employees also questions the co-founders decision making with respect to some of the acquisitions and initiatives including the acquisition of logistics firm GoJavas.

In the letter, the employees seem to be unhappy about the founders' 2.0 plan. "It is a poisonous plan to destroy the organisation so that you stay in charge. So many people to be impacted for the sake of just two of you," the letter reads.

As per the 2.0 plan, Snapdeal is expected to lay-off about 600 people which could make it a leaner organisation

Kunal Bahl, co-founder, however boasted after calling quit with Flipkart deal boasted of making Rs 150 Crore gross profit in next 12 months.

According to the letter, the entire episode at Snapdeal has impacted around 40,000 people including Snapdeal's employees and their dependents.

"These are real people, not statistics. They are from different functions and they know what you have done," the letter further says.

While the letter seems to be a vent for the troubled employees, we couldn't independently verify the number of employees who have protested with the letter.