Fullife Healthcare Pvt. Ltd, which sells sports nutrition supplements under the brands Fast & Up, and Chicnutrix has raised $22 million in its Series C round from Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia, the company said in a statement on Monday.
The company will use the funds to accelerate the growth of its flagship brands Fast & Up, and Chicnutrix, the company said. The company plans to expand Fast & Up, and Chicnutrix’s presence domestically and globally, while enhancing its manufacturing capabilities. The company said both the brands have aggressively entered new into new categories for providing nutrition solutions.
“Indians are now more aware and actively searching for products that are genuine, high quality and align with the daily needs to be healthy, active and look good. We are building these brands at an international level even in several regulated markets as a first for Indian OTC brands,” said Varun Khanna, chief, executive officer, Fullife Healthcare.
The company, also backed by ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, is a manufacturer in effervescent technology for healthcare and nutraceutical products. Fullife Healthcare said it is one of the first Indian companies to take branded business outside India in the field of wellness and active nutrition.
Fullife Healthcare claims to be India’s largest effervescent company and has a growing portfolio of clinically proven, branded pharmaceutical and over-the-counter (OTC) products. The company has been backed by Sixth Sense Ventures, Kotak Securities and Akash Prakash, alongside Jhunjhunwala.
The company is a backward integrated company from its own research and development centre, manufacturing plants to an omni-channel distribution across India and the globe, it said. Fullife Healthcare focuses on areas like active living and women’s health, with the two D2C (Direct-to-consumer) brands--Fast&Up and Chicnutrix. Fullife was started in 2009 by Satish Khanna, the former group president of drugmaker Lupin.
“Fullife’s key brands Fast&Up and Chicnutrix are already household names, and the company is well positioned to emerge as a leading global player in the space, backed by its wide product portfolio, in-house manufacturing capabilities, global business footprint and omni-channel distribution,” said Nirav Mehta, managing director, Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia.
For Morgan Stanley, Fullife Healthcare’s investment follows its recent investment in another healthcare startup Sterling Accuris. In September, the pathology-focused diagnostic lab chain had raised $34 million from a fund managed by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia.
