Online pharmacy PlatinumRx and water filtration maker WaterScience have raised funds in separate rounds from venture capital firms, the companies said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, e-commerce giant Flipkart has acquired a majority stake in digital media platform Pinkvilla.
Chronic-care online pharmacy PlatinumRx has raised $6 million (Rs 52.8 crore) in a Series A round led by Stellaris Venture Partners, with participation from existing backer India Quotient.
The startup plans to use the fresh capital to scale operations by adding fulfillment centers, building its teams across product and tech, and strengthening the supply chain and brand presence.
Founded last year by Ashutosh Pandey and Piyush Kumar, PlatinumRx's platform helps customers find substitute brands of medicines with nearly identical salt compositions through a quality-checked process, sourcing directly from large pharmaceutical companies.
Over the next 12-18 months, PlatinumRx aims to serve over a million customers by opening five new fulfillment centers
WaterScience, which provides non-drinking water filtration products, has secured Rs 1.4 crore ($0.1 million) from Velocity, the growth capital platform backed by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures.
The Bengaluru-headquartered startup said it will use the funding to accelerate growth, strengthen brand marketing, and introduce new product categories.
Founded in 2014 by Sudeep Nadukkandy, Pavithra Rao, and Mohammed Iqbal, WaterScience offers more than 40 products, including shower and tap filters, appliance filters, kitchen filters, water softeners, and whole-house systems for hard water, chlorine, and other contaminants.
It claims to have sold products to over 2 million Indian homes, and plans to reach an additional 1 million homes in FY25-26. It sells products on marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, Shopify, and through over 1,000 offline retailers.
Flipkart-Pinkvilla
Flipkart has acquired a majority stake in Pinkvilla India Pvt Ltd to broaden its content footprint and enhance engagement with Gen Z and millennial audiences. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
"This acquisition by Flipkart offers the company a chance to gain trend insights and create content for commerce opportunities, thereby further solidifying its position in the Indian market," the company said in a statement.
The deal has been finalized and is subject to customary closing conditions, the Walmart-owned company said, adding that it is expected to close shortly.
