AI-powered beauty and personal care review platform Honestly raises Rs 3.2 crore

Honestly, an AI-powered beauty and personal care (BPC) review platform, has raised Rs 3.2 crore in a pre-seed funding round led by Better Capital.

The round also saw participation from Kunal Shah-led QED Innovations, along with senior leaders from Flipkart, Polygon, and Cred.

The funding will support the initial product launch and help the platform achieve early signs of product-market fit.

What does Honestly do?

Founded in April 2024 by Karishma Rathaur and Vivek Madani, Honestly aims to tackle significant challenges in the BPC sector.

"We are looking at BPC because the problem is grave here. You can't return products, and the number of attributes along which you need to know whether the product is working or not, and how a person experiences a product, is very different," Madani said.

The platform uses AI to analyze product ingredients, helping users understand how new products might fit into their existing routines. It also facilitates peer-to-peer connections for sharing detailed product reviews.

Honstely's revenue model

Honestly’s revenue model focuses on business-to-business (B2B) partnerships. The platform offers brands access to its APIs and the ability to integrate widgets into their product pages.

"Once we prove out the business-to-consumer (B2C) user application and we have enough proprietary data then we will give e-commerce platforms APIs to integrate onto their platforms,” said Madani.

The startup aims to scale its user base to 1 million in India and is exploring expansion opportunities in regions like the UAE and Western countries with significant Indian diaspora.

"While social media has helped educate people about skincare, haircare, and makeup, it has also added to the confusion. We're thrilled to be backed by investors who understand the problem. This investment will enable us to build a strong engineering and marketing founding team over the next few months,” said Rathaur.