Mumbai: Ananta Capital has acquired a majority stake in Phitku, the Made-in-India personal care and hygiene brand redefining body odour management through science-backed, alum-based formulations.
The strategic transaction comes just 14 months after the company’s launch and marks a significant milestone for one of India’s fastest-growing profitable personal care brands, reflecting strong investor confidence in science-led, clean personal care businesses.
The transaction has been structured as a combination of a primary capital infusion and a secondary share purchase. Through this structure, Ananta Capital will provide Phitku with fresh growth capital while enabling partial liquidity for its founders.
Sumit Marda, Neha Marda and Rahul Dokania will continue to lead the company and retain a significant stake, reinforcing their long-term commitment to building the brand.
Founded in early 2025 by Sumit Marda, Neha Marda and Rahul Dokania, Phitku has been built entirely on a 100% bootstrapped and profitable model, making Ananta Capital’s investment the company’s first institutional funding.
Beyond capital, the partnership brings strategic expertise and institutional support aimed at accelerating product innovation, strengthening brand-building initiatives and expanding the company’s presence across direct-to-consumer (D2C), quick commerce, online marketplaces and selected international markets.
In just over a year, Phitku has established itself as one of India’s leading natural odour protection brands, built on simple alum-based formulations.
The company has served more than 6 lakh customers across India through its D2C platform, leading marketplaces and quick-commerce channels while maintaining profitability.
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Ashutosh Taparia, Founder & Managing Partner, Ananta Capital, said: “What drew us to Phitku was the category itself. Consumers today are increasingly seeking cleaner personal care products and paying closer attention to ingredients, while odor protection remains a large category with limited innovation.
Phitku has modernized a trusted ingredient like alum and built a proposition that resonates with today’s consumers. We believe the brand is well positioned to lead this emerging category.”
Sanjeev Taparia, part of the Taparia family, added: “We have been impressed by what the founders have built in such a short period of time.
Going forward, we see an opportunity to build Phitku into a broader clean personal care platform by leveraging our consumer ecosystem, distribution network, product development capabilities, and international presence.”
Sumit Marda, Co-founder & CEO of Phitku, said: “Phitku was founded with a simple vision, to build a science-led personal care brand that consumers can genuinely trust. As a team, we’ve stayed focused on one thing: building products that are clean, safe, and that actually work. For us, efficacy and safety aren’t trade-offs; they go hand in hand.
In a market where consumers have grown weary of brands that over-promise and under-deliver, we set out to bring back something simpler, pure trust and lasting loyalty. In just over a year, that approach has helped us build a community of over 6 lakh customers, reaffirming the demand for clean, effective, and ingredient-conscious hygiene solutions. Partnering with Ananta Capital is an important milestone for us. This is about far more than capital.
Ananta brings the strategic expertise, operational experience, and long-term vision to help us build Phitku into a true personal hygiene platform, one that scales responsibly, accelerates innovation, and strengthens our distribution across both Indian and international markets. Together, we aim to build Phitku into India’s leading science-led personal hygiene brand.”
Phitku was founded with the vision of reimagining the age-old benefits of alum for modern consumers. The company focuses on clean, alcohol-free and skin-friendly formulations that eliminate body odour at its source instead of masking it with artificial fragrances.
Designed specifically for Indian climate conditions and everyday use, the products combine science-backed efficacy with ingredient-conscious innovation.
With Ananta Capital as its strategic partner, Phitku plans to continue focusing on category leadership before expanding into adjacent product segments.
Rather than rapidly increasing its product portfolio, the company intends to introduce new offerings only where it can deliver exceptional solutions.
Backed by Ananta Capital, Phitku has also expanded its vision beyond India and is targeting 4-5x growth over the next two years, aiming to achieve an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of ₹300 crore while building a globally relevant, science-led hygiene brand from India.
