MUMBAI: VLCC founder Vandana Luthra has invested an undisclosed amount in NDTV’s e-commerce platform Smartcooky.com.
The company has previously raised funds from multiple investors, which values the startup at $12 million.
The platform will sell healthy foods and personal care products across the country and is based on the network's current food website,www.food.ndtv.com. The funding for the platform, which claims to have over three million unique visitors a month, has come through NDTV's subsidiary SmartCooky Internet Limited.
The new content site will help in making healthy choices in the daily life by offering a well chosen selection of quality products.
Speaking on the investment, NDTV Group executive co-chairperson Dr. Prannoy Roy said, “We are delighted to have Mrs. Vandana Luthra, a pioneer in the field of wellness, as an investor in Smartcooky. We see this alliance as a strategic one, where both parties are bound to gain.”
On this new deal, Smartcooky director Seema Chandra added, “We are very pleased to have Mrs. Luthra as our investor, as she brings on board a wealth of knowledge about the well ness space from a global perspective and would give SmartCooky a strategic edge in this high growth market. She will join the other marquee investors on Smartcooky and mentor the business as we move a long.”
Luthra said, “The health and wellness industry is growing rapidly and is very dynamic. Having been in the industry for 26 years, I believe that there is a need for such a platform, which can inform on and deliver quality health and wellness products to consumers and further grow the market. I look forward to working with the Smartcooky team and wish them the very best.”
"Baseline is delighted to facilitate Mrs. Vandana Luthra's association with the Smartcooky venture of NDTV. Mrs. Luthra has revolutionised the concept of wellness in our country and with her coming on board of this exciting new venture of NDTV, it will surely be a great symbiotic relationship between them,” voiced NDTV’s online wedding market Baseline Ventures MD Tuhin Mishra.
Smartcooky’s other investors include Google VP and MD South East Asia and India Rajan Anandan, Genpact former president and CEO Pramod Bhasin, Manipal Group Education chairman Siddarth Pai and Unilever executive board member Manvinder Singh Banga.
