A waterless bathing solution was the initial unique product of Delhi-based B2C business Clensta. Since then, it has expanded into a personal and home care brand with a gross merchandise value of Rs 58 crore in FY22.
Pigeons may have been romanticised by Bollywood, but study has found that these ancient messengers may carry up to 60 different illnesses. When Puneet Gupta, the founder of B2C company Clensta, learned about the illnesses spread by pigeon droppings, he made the decision to develop a pigeon repellent that would deter the birds without endangering them. “Pigeons are fed in India. However, they are seen as pests overseas, much like rats. We developed a pigeon repellant that may be sprayed on the region where the birds deposit their droppings after doing much study and deliberation, according to Puneet.
The pigeon repellant is one of the several personal care and home care items supplied by Delhi-based D2V company Clensta, which was established in 2016 and initially focused on creating waterless cleaning solutions. When the founder’s mother underwent knee surgery, he saw how difficult it was to maintain cleanliness for a bedridden patient. This is how the Clensta tale began. Puneet was inspired to launch his business after learning that the “availability of water or living circumstances” were the main causes of the lack of access to basic hygiene.
Clensta, a startup from IIT Delhi, was founded with the sole purpose of democratising access to and efficacy of personal hygiene. Currently, the firm sells a variety of items with prices ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 800, with an average basket size costing Rs 700. From Rs 10.6 crore in FY19, Clensta’s GMV has increased to Rs 58 crore for FY22.
In May 2021, the firm obtained Series A investment from Hem Angel (a division of Hem Securities Limited), Venture Catalysts, and Inflection Point Ventures totaling more than Rs 20 crore ($2.64 million). The business obtained Rs 3 crore in loan from Caspian Impact Investments in July 2022.
The unique cleaning solution developed by Clensta significantly decreases the amount of water used, according to Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, co-founder and president of Venture Catalysts.
A new category of personal and home care items will probably be created as a result of its entry into the D2C market. In the next years, we believe Clensta will grow to be a tech-focused, billion-dollar personal care business.
A “waterless” bathing solution was Clensta’s initial offering, and it was intended for use by defence personnel, sick, the elderly, and adventurers who were unable to take regular baths with soap and water. The formulation may be applied straight to hair and body, massaged in, and then removed with a towel because it is free of alcohol, SLS, and other dangerous substances.
When it was first debuted in 2017, the government first received it before it was marketed to different hospitals around the nation.
The worldwide personal hygiene market, which was estimated to be worth $508 billion in 2020 by Allied Market Research, is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.6 percent to reach $720.7 billion by 2030. Dettol, Lifebuoy, Savlon, and other manufacturers of sanitizers and cleaning products dominate the market. Clensta sets itself apart as a creator of goods that are alcohol-free and built of natural components like red algae. The startup’s goal is to be present in every home in the nation and, in the next five years, to see an average improvement of 5% in everyone’s hygiene index.
