OZiva targets deeper penetration, raises $5M in a Series A investment led by Matrix Partners India

Mumbai. 25th June 2020: Matrix Partners India announced today that it has invested $5M in a Series A funding round in OZiva, a clean-label, plant-based nutrition brand. The round also saw participation from existing investor Titan Capital.

OZiva was founded by Aarti Gill and Mihir Gadani in mid-2016, with the vision of building India's leading clean, plant-based nutrition brand. The brand's core differentiator lies in building a nutrition & fitness ecosystem that combines the best of ancient sciences such as Ayurveda, modern micronutrients, and an instantaneous digital community altogether. It has products ranging from Everyday Fitness to Skin & Hair Nutrition. OZiva specifically serves the 18-55-year-old age group, with women as their primary target audience.

India is on the cusp of a massive growth in the nutritional segment with the Indian nutraceuticals market size at over $5B today, and is expected to double in the next 5 years. This has coincided with increasing levels of awareness around clean-label nutritional benefits, as well as, a real need for high quality, scientific solutions that cater to the needs of modern Indians. Benefiting from these twin engines, OZiva, whose edge is a holistic solution-oriented leader has seen increasing adoption for its products across the country. OZiva has also created deeper engagement with its audiences by offering personalized consultations for all customers.

The infusion of capital will be used to invest deeper in R&D, technology, team expansion, as well as widen their customer base.

'We started OZiva with a simple vision of enabling millions of people to be healthier & better. Being pioneers in the Clean, Plant-based Nutrition space in India - we invested our energies in educating consumers & building the category. Having a strong digital ecosystem & personalized consultations has helped us in delivering more than just the product & has reflected in our growth numbers as well as unit economics. We will keep investing & creating solutions focusing around 3 pillars of fitness - nutrition, workouts & mental wellness', said Aarti Gill, Co-founder, OZiva

"At Matrix, we are excited about backing the best new-age consumer brands and firmly believe in the potential of the under-tapped health and nutrition space in India. OZiva symbolizes the future of wellness and nutrition, with its vision to be the #1 Plant-based nutrition brand in the country. Its maniacal product focus using the highest quality ingredients, as well as leveraging the power of content and community to educate and learn from consumers makes it a truly differentiated offering. We are thrilled to partner with Aarti and Mihir on this journey', said Sanjot Malhi, Director, Matrix India.

About the founding team:
OZiva is founded by Aarti Gill & Mihir Gadani. Aarti is an alum of IIT Roorkee & INSEAD. She has work experience across India, US & Singapore with companies like Credit Suisse, Capital One & a few tech start-ups. Mihir is a Biotechnologist, Bioinformatician, functional fitness expert & an avid Marathoner. He is responsible for furthering the vision of simple and healthy living for all, by leveraging Nutrition Science & Exercise Science at OZiva.

About OZiva:
Establishing a distinct identity in the health nutrition segment, OZiva is India's first Clean, Plant-based Active Nutrition Brand that offers plant-based as well as other nutritional products along with a fully digitized ecosystem intended to enable 100mn+ people live a healthier, active and better life. OZiva has become the world's first connected omni-channel nutrition brand where people can pick-up a product from anywhere and consult a human expert digitally. To know more about OZiva, visit: https://www.oziva.in

About Matrix Partners India:
Matrix Partners India is an investment firm with approximately $1 billion under management. Founded in 2006, the firm invests in companies targeting the Indian consumer and enterprise market at the seed, early and early growth stages. Matrix India has invested in several market leading consumer focused companies such as, W For Woman (ready to wear fashion label), Chumbak (design led lifestyle brand), Country Delight (a direct-to-home, mass premium milk brand), Mosaic Wellness (a lifestyle & wellness consumer brand), &Me (F&B brand focused on women's health & wellness), And Nothing Else (a 100% clean label food brand), Open Secret (F&B brand focused on the healthy snack market), as well as marquee investments including Ola (local transportation), Practo (digital health platform), Dailyhunt (mobile local language platform), Treebo (digital hotel chain), Mswipe (mobile POS), Five Star Business Finance (SME lending), OfBusiness (credit led B2B marketplace), Ola Electric (multimodal electric vehicle platform), Razorpay (payments), Stanza Living (tech enabled student housing platform), Vogo (scooter sharing), and Cloudnine Hospitals (leading chain of maternity hospitals), among others. Matrix India has advisory offices in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. Matrix Partners has a global network of funds investing in the US, China and India, with approximately $5 billion under management. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in. To know more about our investment philosophy & ideologies, check out the #MatrixMoments podcast series.