Introduction
Vibrant Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Namita Thapar is one ace businesswoman who, while being a great entrepreneur in the business world, has emerged as an institution synonym for the empowerment of start-ups through strategic investments and mentorship as seen in the Indian version of Shark Tank. She has evolved from a mere investor who provides capital support to being a mentor, guide, and champion of innovation and entrepreneurship. This understanding of the Indian market and her passion for helping creativity flower have made Namita a shining inspiration for young entrepreneurs. She has guided first-time founders across scaling businesses with the capacity to disrupt entire industries. This is a superb testimony to the power of guided investment to transform lives.
This article attempts to celebrate some of the fantastic startups funded by Namita Thapar, digging out what areas they are working in and what kind of journey they have been on, especially how her efforts helped them win. Whether food and beverages, healthcare, edtech, or fashion, Namita’s portfolio speaks to a vision that believes impact and innovation go hand in hand.
Source: Kuvera
| S. No. | List of Startups Funded by Namita Thapar |
| 1 | Skippi Ice Pops |
| 2 | Rare Planet |
| 3 | SUGAR Cosmetics |
| 4 | UnStop |
| 5 | Beyond Water |
| 6 | Nuutjob |
| 7 | Snitch |
| 8 | First Health |
| 9 | Uvi Health |
| 10 | JhaJi Store |
- Skippi Ice Pops
- Sector: Food and Beverages
- Investment: Rs 20 Lakhs 3% Equity
Skippi Ice Pops achieved massive eyeballs as India’s first 100 percent natural ice popsicle brand. This venture was that of Kabra siblings Anuja and Ravi, creating an excellent buzz with their 100 percent natural and preservative-free products. With its novel, innovative idea of using natural flavors for ice pops, the company has attracted health-conscious customers and families all around the globe. Thus, the investment made by Namita Thapar in Skippi Ice Pops was confident that this was a brand that would quite vividly impact the entire food and beverage arena.
After an investment by Namita, Skippi expanded its place of distribution in the whole length and breadth of India; branding recognition of the company went up thousands of folds. It scaled up from Namita’s investment of INR 20 Lakhs to a valuation of almost 6 crores with a return of 2900%. This is the epitome of innovation in traditional streams when aligned with strategic vision.
Source: Skippi Ice Pops
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Skippi Ice Pops |
| Product Type | Flavored Ice Pops (Frozen Desserts) |
| Founding Year | 2021 |
| Founders | Ravi Kabra and Anuja Kabra |
| Headquarters | Hyderabad, India |
| Business Model | Direct-to-Customers (D2C) and partnerships with online platforms |
- Rare Planet
- Industry: Retail and Handicrafts
- Investment: INR 65 Lakhs for 3% Equity
The vision is to enable the Indian artisanal ecosystem. As the thought of indigenous art and craft resonated within Namita Thapar, Rare Planet empowers the artisans by bringing these craft products. Now, this startup deals in everything from handmade terracotta cups produced by rural artisans to brass decors. The same also helped the firm scale from its mere four retail stores to its immense presence at more than 54 outlets across India.
The success factor for Rare Planet has been that they could incorporate old-age crafts with new-age retailing. She provided the brands with the much-needed capital. She mentored the brand on the need for a smooth and efficient distribution channel, marketing skills, and getting it to the correct set of consumers looking for authenticity and sustainability. In this manner, she was creating artisan livelihoods while at the same time proving that cultural heritage could indeed be an incredible business facilitator if exploited correctly.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Rare Planet |
| Type of Business | E-commerce and Handicrafts |
| Founding Year | 2015 |
| Founders | Ranodeep Saha and Baishali Laha |
| Headquarters | Kolkata, India |
Source: Justdial
- SUGAR Cosmetics
- Business: Beauty and Cosmetics
- Founding: Not Known
SUGAR Cosmetics has kept high stakes with the launch of cruelty-free premium goods that can fulfill the extensive demands of Indian skin tone. As a stakeholder in businesses that are highly consumer-driven but reach the masses, it has thus been pretty organic for Namita to invest in SUGAR Cosmetics.
Her engagement helped the brand move quickly concerning digital growth and product launches. Under Namita, with market dynamics considered, the online portal becomes a landmark for youths, millennials, and Generation Z minds for SUGAR Cosmetics.
All else, the constituents of the world of cosmetics lay naked on the battlefield, left behind by that organization under the watch of Namita.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Sugar Cosmetics |
| Industry | Beauty and Cosmetics |
| Founding Year | 2015 |
| Founders | Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee |
| Headquarters | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Business Model | Direct-to-Customers (D2C), e-commerce, retail (offline presence in over 45,000 stores) |
Source: The Economic Times
- Unstop-formerly known as Dare2Compete
- Industry: EdTech also HR
- Sum investment: not known
The organization that is coming there connects academia and, notably, the first time the industry is being done. The companies host hackathons, case studies, internships, and campus ambassadors exclusively for students. For this organization, Namita Thapar experienced how the democratization of access transformed how the corporation could reach students.
After the investment from Namita Thapar, the early-stage startup reached an interface that is a user-centric, strategic partnership with blue-chip corporations and gained an edge in the EdTech and HRTech competitive landscape. A strategic mentoring session from Namita led to an enormously more significant student pool that could use this tool to hone their skills and craft their careers.
Source: Facebook
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Unstop (Formerly Dare2Compete) |
| Type | Online platform for competition, quizzes, hackathons, jobs, and internships |
| Founding Year | 2017 |
| Founders | Ankit Aggarwal |
| Headquarters | Gurugram, Haryana, India |
| Revenue Model | Event hosting and sponsorship feesPartnerships with organizations for talent acquisitionCorporate Branding Services |
- Beyond Water
- Health and Wellness
- Raise fund: Rs 37.5 Lakhs in exchange for 7.5% equity
Born as a progressive start-up venture in India, Beyond Water is an innovative creation with liquid water boosters, flavor-enhancing, and nutrient-enriching products. They make ordinary drinking water taste better and acquire wholesome nutrients. Beyond Water is for the hydration-conscious consumer who wants to make drinking water healthier and tastier. This financing provided much-needed capital for the start-up but, importantly, put the brand into a competitive health and wellness space.
Under the tutelage of Namita, this marketing strategy was honed, and it catapulted the company into markets beyond water. Further, this refined the development of products while perfecting the establishment of its distribution networks and consumer growth.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Beyond water |
| Industry | Beverage Industry |
| Product Category | Flavored Waters Drops and Concentrates |
| Founders | Devang Singhania and Shachu Singhania |
| Founding year | 2020 |
| Headquarters | Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
| Business Model | Direct-to-Customers (D2C) |
Source: Beyond Water
- Nuutjob
- Personal Care and Hygiene
- Funding: INR 8.33 Lakhs for 6.66% Equity
Nuutjob is the first intimate care product company for men since it only gets the better of opening for less-discussed realms between men’s hygiene. This is a brand of two energetic entrepreneurs discussing finding the right and best quality products, as equally relevant conversations go about normalization regarding intimate hygiene.
Having seen an excellent opportunity in the niche market position and being culturally sensitive, Namita made this investment with the capital infusion of her skill to strengthen her marketing strategy by having more awareness and, importantly, establishing a faithful customer base. This went in tandem with the mentoring and funding from Namita; this start-up went on to address the social taboos and value creation through innovation.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Nuutjob |
| Tagline | Comfort in Every Movement |
| Product Category | Men’s Intimate hygiene and grooming products |
| Founders | Ananya and Anushree Maloo |
| Founding year | 2021 |
| Headquarters | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Competitors | Pee Safe, Manscaped, Ustraa |
Source: nuutjob.com
- Snitch
- Category: Fashion
- Funding Amount Raised: Unknown
Snitch is a hipster, fashionable, affordable clothing startup for fashionable folks. She invested in this idea because she felt that there was a massive market for cool and budgetary clothes for the youth generation. Snitch increased its production abilities, enhanced the quality of the products, and initiated branding activities after Namita invested in the start-up. She further sensitized the startup to use digital channels for e-commerce and empowered them to improvise the supply chain functions to sustain the growing needs of consumers.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Snitch |
| Industry | Fashion |
| Tagline | Fashion that Moves Forward |
| Founders | Siddhartha Dhar |
| Founding year | 2019 |
| Headquarters | Bangalore, Karnataka, India |
| Business Model | Direct-to-Customer (D2C) model |
Source: Knocksense
- Uvi Health
Industry: FemTech
Investment: Rs 30 Lakhs for 5% Equity
Focusing on chronic women’s diseases such as PCOS and thyroid illnesses, Uvi Health caters to the badly needed requirement of providing first-order medical advice coupled with lifestyle advice and community engagement. The financial and strategic support it took engaged Uvi Health in improving its offerings, upscaling its technological strengths, and touching more lives. End.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Uvi Health |
| Industry | HealthTech |
| Funding | Backed by angel investors and seed funding from prominent investment firms. |
| Founders | Mehak Malik |
| Founding year | 2021 |
| Headquarters | Bangalore, Karnataka, India |
| Competitors | Wellbeing brands like For Her, Gumtree, and MyUpchar |
Source: Uvi Health
- JhaJi Store
- Category: Food and Beverages
- Investment: INR 10 Lakhs for 10% Equity
JhaJi Store is a made-in-India startup that will celebrate India’s glorious heritage of homemade pickles and condiments using traditional recipes in the country. Namita funded the company’s scaling up in production, increasing packaging, and reaching more customers nationwide. Her investment indicated the importance of cultural heritage going hand in hand with modern customer needs.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Jhaji Store |
| Industry | Food and Beverages |
| Product Range | Traditional homemade pickles, chutneys, and condiments |
| Founders | Kalpana Jha & Uma Jha |
| Founding year | 2020 |
| Headquarters | Darbhanga, Bihar, India |
Source: Facebook
- Carragreen
- Sector: Eco-friendly Products
- Investment: Rs 25 Lakhs for 20% Equity
Carragreen is an eco-friendly products startup focusing on making environmentally friendly, biodegradable packaging alternatives to disposable products. Namita was impressed by their mission to minimize plastic waste. Her investment helped Carragreen scale up manufacturing and marketing its products to environmentally conscious consumers. The brand was also positioned in green markets through Namita’s mentoring, which helped the company’s mission of reducing its environmental footprint and fulfilling consumer demands.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Carragreen |
| Vission | To create sustainable, eco-friendly alternatives to traditional disposable products |
| Founding Year | 2018 |
| Founders | Surbhi Bansal & Supriya Bansal |
| Headquarters | Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India |
Source: carragreen.com
- Conclusion
The diversified portfolio of Namita Thapar speaks to the depth to which she is committed to developing innovation across many sectors. As an investor, she has set an example of the challenges and opportunities associated with the vital guidance and mentorship that births entrepreneurial success. The startups she has funded have received financial support and reaped the benefits of her vision and leadership. Namita is nurtured with talents and promotes cultural heritage by driving industry innovations, giving her a unique edge in shaping the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
These success stories portray how dedication one can build a chain that takes even tiny ideas into giant, impactful businesses. Contributions made by Namita Thapar will depict the rising need to make investments that are not just empathetic and strategic towards future-making India-grooming start-ups but prove through innovative healthcare solutions and restoration of cultural activities how this approach is both influential and inspiring.
