The funding will be used mainly for brand building and marketing activities to help Bonita take the next big leap as a brand
New Delhi, 5th Dec 2016: Riding on the impressive growth it has witnessed within a short span of time, home utility startup Bonita India has successfully closed its first round of funding from a group of individual investors to help the brand grow to the next level. The funding marks a new leap in the brief but spectacular journey of the Brand from a promising startup to a potential global player.
Bonita, which was started as a self-funded company a few years back and was till now operating on bootstrapped funds, has succeeded in raising a substantial amount of funds considering it was raised from individual investors. The main reason behind this positive response from investors in the first stage of investment in the company has been the brand’s immensely successful run across India and the world, which has seen it establish presence in over 25 countries.
“It gives us immense pleasure to announce that we have completed the first outside investment at Bonita. Our company now has several individual patrons. The money raised in this round will be spent on brand-building exercises including BTL & ATL activities, investment in new product development, launches, creating product awareness and drive consumption at a pan-India level and further growing the distribution network,” said Mr Umang Srivastava, Joint Managing Director, Bonita.
The decision to run the company bootstrapped in its initial years was consciously taken to be able to first establish a strong brand identity, a wide customer base and steady revenues before looking for outside investment. Having achieved this target, Bonita opened its arms for the first stage investment. However, even for the first round funding, it decided to open up the investment doors to only a select group of investors. Many of individual investors were also from the family & Friends group of the founding team who participated in this round as well.
Bonita India was envisioned with an intent to help Indian consumers experience convenience and comfort in their households. Focusing heavily on product innovation, Bonita has gained near cult status among consumers in India and in several countries within a few years of starting operations. Bonita brand is today available in over 20 countries under its own brand name. It has established a strong foothold in USA, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands Switzerland, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand & UAE with overseas warehouses in US, Europe, and UAE.
At home in India, it already has a strong distribution network and is available across 1000+ stores in 45+ cities of India through major retail chains like Shoppers Stop, Home Stop, Hypercity, Home Town, Lulu, etc. It is also available across major e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Snapdeal, Pepperfry, Indiatimes, among others.
The next step to invite investors was taken on the advice of IndianStartupFactory.com (ISF), an advisory firm that has been working closely with Bonita through its On-Line Platform “startXindia.com”.
“Our endeavor at “IndianStartupFactory” is poised to offer a unique platform, that caters to all the needs of an individual investor and participate with the right start-up or SME by making an informed investment decision. We handhold, profitable or nearing profitability, start-ups & SME’s, in raising Need Based Capital. Bonita, has been one of the interesting deals to structure that we have done in the recent months,” said Kapil Kaul, the Founder and Director of IndianStartupFactory.com, speaking about helping Bonita in its first round of funding.
“Bonita has a very strong founding team, and has achieved a remarkable growth as a Brand in a fairly short period of time in quite an un-organized sector. We foresee Bonita as a long-term player in this sector, which should play a big role in making this sector organized,” added Prashant Priyadarshi, Founder and Director of IndianStartupFactory.
Bonita is now aiming to establish its foothold in 50 countries, and earn over 50 patents over the next 3 years by introducing more innovative and space savvy home utility products.