Ananta Capital has acquired a majority stake in Phitku, a Made-in-India personal care and hygiene brand that focuses on body odour management through science-based products. The deal marks a major achievement for Phitku, which started only 14 months ago and has already become one of India’s fastest-growing profitable personal care brands.
This transaction shows strong investor trust in clean and science-led personal care businesses. It also proves that consumers now prefer products that focus on safety, effectiveness, and better ingredients.
The deal has two parts. It includes fresh capital investment in the company and also a secondary share purchase. This structure gives Phitku new funds for future growth while also offering partial liquidity to its founders.
Even after this transaction, founders Sumit Marda, Neha Marda, and Rahul Dokania will continue to lead the company and will keep a significant stake in the business. This shows their long-term commitment toward the brand and its future success.
Phitku Built Strong Business Without External Funding
Phitku was founded in early 2025 by Sumit Marda, Neha Marda, and Rahul Dokania. From day one, the company followed a completely bootstrapped model. The founders built the business with their own resources and did not take outside funding.
What makes the story even more impressive is that the company stayed profitable from the start. Ananta Capital’s investment now becomes Phitku’s first institutional funding round.
This fresh partnership gives Phitku more than just money. The company now gets strategic guidance, business expertise, and strong institutional support. These advantages will help the brand improve product development, strengthen branding, and expand sales channels.
The company plans stronger presence across direct-to-consumer sales, quick commerce platforms, online marketplaces, and selective international markets.
Phitku Grew Rapidly Within One Year
In just over one year, Phitku has built a strong position in India’s natural odour protection category. The brand already serves more than 6 lakh customers across India.
The company sells products through its own D2C platform, major online marketplaces, and quick-commerce channels. Despite its short journey, Phitku has built a profitable business and established itself as one of India’s leading natural odour protection brands.
Its success came from a strong focus on simple but effective products that solve a real consumer problem.
This quick growth played a major role in attracting Ananta Capital.
Why Ananta Capital Chose Phitku
Ashutosh Taparia, Founder and Managing Partner at Ananta Capital, explained why the firm invested in Phitku.
According to him, one major reason was the category itself. Today, consumers pay more attention to product ingredients and prefer cleaner personal care options. At the same time, the odour protection category remains very large but has seen very little real innovation.
He said Phitku has successfully modernized alum, which people have trusted for years. The company created a product proposition that connects well with modern consumers.
Ashutosh Taparia believes Phitku has strong potential to become the leader of this fast-growing category.
Strong Support From Taparia Family
Sanjeev Taparia, who belongs to the Taparia family, also shared confidence in the company.
He said the founders have built something impressive within a very short time. He believes Phitku can grow beyond one category and become a larger clean personal care platform.
He also said the company can benefit from the Taparia family’s wider consumer ecosystem, strong distribution network, product expertise, and international market presence.
This support could help Phitku scale faster and enter new markets with confidence.
Founders Focus on Trust and Product Quality
Sumit Marda, Co-founder and CEO of Phitku, shared the vision behind the company.
He said Phitku started with one simple goal — to build a science-led personal care brand that consumers can trust completely.
From the start, the team stayed focused on clean, safe, and highly effective products. According to him, safety and product performance should never compete with each other. Both must exist together.
He also said many consumers now feel disappointed with brands that make big promises but fail to deliver real results.
Phitku wanted to change this by bringing back something simple but powerful — trust and long-term customer loyalty.
This approach helped the company build a customer community of more than 6 lakh people within a short period.
This success also proved strong market demand for clean, effective, and ingredient-conscious hygiene products.
Partnership Means More Than Capital
Sumit Marda explained that this partnership with Ananta Capital represents far more than financial investment.
He said Ananta brings strategic knowledge, operational experience, and long-term business vision. These strengths can help Phitku become a complete personal hygiene platform.
The company now plans faster innovation, stronger distribution, and expansion across both Indian and international markets.
The long-term goal remains very clear. Phitku wants to become India’s leading science-led personal hygiene brand.
The founders believe this partnership can help turn that vision into reality.
How Phitku Products Stand Apart
Phitku started with a simple but powerful idea.
The founders wanted to modernize alum, an age-old ingredient known for natural body odour control.
The company created products that remain clean, alcohol-free, and skin-friendly. Instead of simply covering body odour with artificial fragrance, Phitku products remove odour at its actual source.
The brand designed these products specially for Indian weather conditions and everyday use.
Its formula combines scientific effectiveness with careful ingredient selection, which has helped create trust among consumers.
This focus on real product performance helped the company stand apart in a crowded personal care market.
Big Growth Plans for the Future
Phitku has ambitious plans for the future, but its core philosophy remains unchanged.
The company believes in going deep within one category before moving into another. Instead of chasing trends or constantly launching new SKUs, the brand follows a simple philosophy — do less, but do it exceptionally well.
The company plans new product launches only when it feels confident about delivering truly excellent solutions.
The larger aim remains category leadership before expansion into new segments.
With Ananta Capital as a strategic partner, Phitku has now expanded its vision beyond India.
The company aims 4 to 5 times growth within the next two years and wants to reach an annual recurring revenue of ₹300 crore.
Even with global ambitions, Phitku remains committed to one mission — to build a globally relevant, science-led hygiene brand from India that stands for trust, quality, and real consumer value.
Also Read – 10 Startups Building the Future of Personalized Healthcare