[Funding alert] Feminine hygiene startup Sanfe raises Rs 8 Cr from Snapdeal Founders, SucSEED Venture, others

New Delhi-based feminine hygiene brand Sanfe has raised Rs 8 crore in a Pre-Series A funding from SucSEED Venture Partners, Titan Capital (a VC-arm run by Snapdeal founders Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl), BIRAC, Elixir Pharma, and a group of investors.

Founded by IIT-Delhi graduates Archit Aggarwal and Harry Sehrawat, Sanfe plans to utilise the capital for category disruption, strengthening of the existing team, new product development, and brand building. 

Speaking on the investment, Archit Aggarwal, Founder, Sanfe, said, 

“With Sanfe, we want to take feminine hygiene to newer heights by becoming the most trusted and preferred brand of this New Indian Women. Sanfe also intends to capture the pulse of the global feminine hygiene market by taking its success story to other parts of the world. The capital infusion will help us in category disruption and strengthen our product development, marketing, and distribution.” 

Other investors who participated in the round were Saurabh Chawla (Former Group CFO of DLF and Executive Director- Finance and Strategy, GMR Infrastructure Ltd), Shankar Narayanan (Former Managing Director and Co-Head, Carlyle Asia Growth Partners), Sunil Kumar Singhvi (Managing Partner, South Handlooms Limited), and Rohit Chanana (Ex-President, Strategy and Finance, Hero Corporate Services). 

Incubated at IIT-Delhi, Sanfe had previously raised a seed funding from Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Department of Biotechnology, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) to support the brand and development of the product. 

Vikrant Varshney, the Managing Partner of SucSEED Venture Partners and a seasoned angel investor, said,

“Feminine hygiene products market is expected to garner $42.7 billion by 2022. In the Indian feminine hygiene space, Sanfe is expecting a 300 percent growth by 2022 against the existing industry growth of 21 percent, and we were keen to support them in the journey.” 

The startup’s existing product portfolio includes stand and pee device, intimate wash, intimate wipes, panty liners, organic sanitary pads, pain relief roll-on, and menstrual cups. It will further strengthen its position by utilising the funds towards research and development of an innovative range of products in the category. 

At present, Sanfe products are available at 1,500 outlets across the country along with key ecommerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Nykaa. The brand currently has a presence in global markets such as the US, Nepal, and Kenya. It also has plans to reach out to other European and African markets in the next phase.

(Edited by Suman Singh)