Aara Health to reach break-even by 2023 ; fundraising on the cards this year: Navya Naveli Nanda

New Delhi: Healthtech startup Aara Health is likely to reach break-even next year with expansion of product portfolio in the menstrual hygiene category, firm's co-founder Navya Naveli Nanda said.

While speaking to PTI on the sidelines of Entrepreneur Annual Conclave 2022, granddaughter of megastar Amitabh Bachchan said her nutraceutical e-commerce startup is planning to raise funds later this year where more than money, the firm will focus on collaborating with the right set of partners and mentors.

"We launched two products last year. We have been in the market for one year only. We are hoping by next year we will be able to reach break-even, find our growth towards profitability. We are hoping that the new line of products that we are launching will allow us to kind of accelerate faster," Nanda said.

Launched in 2021, Aara Health provides medically-verified information to destigmatize women's health topics as well as develops its own products for their health and wellness.

Nanda, 24, said the company focusses deeply on three pillars -- content, community and e-commerce. She said Aara Health partners with medical experts and institutions to provide healthcare information.

"We also have a very large community of 70,000 women and our community is, I think, the core of the business because we want this not to just be an e-commerce platform, but also be a platform where women can come and interact with one another," Nanda said.

The company has developed two products -- a sleep supplement and an immunity supplement -- for women and is now planning to expand the portfolio.

"These supplements have been formulated and developed by us. We wanted to launch supplements as our first line of products because typically in the market, all nutraceuticals or vitamins are made keeping (in mind) the average height and weight of a man. So the formulation and the ingredients actually don't have an impact on a woman's body because the dosage that a woman requires is very different than that of a man," Nanda said.

She said Aara developed the supplements during COVID-19 as there was a lot of emphasis on wellness and immunity.

"A lot of people during COVID were unable to sleep. That's why we came up with the sleep product. But now that we've kind of moved away from COVID, our next line of products that we will launch will be more in menstrual hygiene categories. We are looking at sanitary pads, menstrual cups and so on that are more focused on menstrual and personal hygiene," Nanda said.

She said the company plans to raise funds from venture capitalists. "We are planning to raise investment this year and move forward next year as well. Hopefully that will allow us to invest in infrastructure, offices, teams and maybe even a factory in the future." Aara will focus more on strategic collaboration than funds. "I think the strategic help that we will get is something that would be more beneficial to us at this stage because we are still growing. We are still very small. It's very early. I think we need that guidance and support," she said.