Startup Deep Dive : Kapiva — Rs 342 crore in sales, Rs 69 crore in losses, and a 0 million vote of confidence

In FY25, Kapiva made Rs 342 crore selling ayurvedic juices, gummies and supplements to Indians who no longer trust a vaidya’s shop but still want the tag “ayurveda” on the label — and it lost Rs 69 crore doing it, its widest loss yet.

Weeks after that loss became public, Kapiva’s oldest institutional backer walked away with a full exit, and a fresh set of investors wrote in over $60 million (₹576 crore at ₹96 ≈ $1, as of 18 September 2026) to keep funding the same model, at a company whose founder now talks openly about an IPO in two to three years. That contradiction — rising revenue, rising losses, and rising institutional conviction, all at once — is the story of how a hundred-year-old ayurveda pedigree got rebuilt as a modern D2C nutrition brand.

Quick facts

What they do

Kapiva sells ayurvedic nutrition and wellness products — herbal juices, capsules, gummies, powders, teas, A2 ghee, cold-pressed oils and skincare — across more than 100 SKUs aimed at condition-specific use cases such as diabetes care, heart health, liver support, hormonal balance, weight management and gym or sports nutrition. The buyer is mostly an urban Indian consumer who wants an ayurvedic alternative sold with FMCG-style packaging, clinical language and same-day delivery rather than a visit to a vaidya or a traditional pharmacy; a smaller international business serves the Indian diaspora and wellness shoppers in the UK, the US and the UAE.

The origin

Ameve Sharma is a third-generation member of the family behind Baidyanath, the ayurvedic medicine group his ancestors founded in 1917 and grew into one of India’s largest ayurvedic manufacturers. He studied economics at New York University, did an MBA at INSEAD, and consulted at McKinsey & Company before concluding that a century-old family firm could not move at the speed a new brand needed. His insight was simple: India trusted ayurveda culturally far more than it trusted ayurveda commercially — the category lacked the scientific validation, modern branding and organised retail that had let mainstream FMCG brands win shelf space and repeat purchase. He partnered with Shrey Badhani, who had worked at Bain & Company and then in private equity at Bain Capital, and the two built Kapiva on that gap: modern packaging and clinical language layered onto ayurvedic formulations, sold the way a contemporary consumer brand would be sold rather than the way a medicine cabinet would be stocked. The entity behind Kapiva, Adret Retail Private Limited, was incorporated in 2015, and the Kapiva brand itself launched in January 2016, backed initially by about Rs 4.4 crore in angel funding raised in 2017.

The struggle years

Kapiva did not start as the D2C nutrition brand it is today. It began as a small chain of ayurvedic clinics — four of them — built on the belief that personalised, vaidya-led treatment was the most credible way to make ayurveda relevant again. The clinics were not a failure by their own narrow measure: they reportedly generated about Rs 3 crore a month within their first 18 months. But the model was high-touch and low-scale, and it could not answer the much bigger opportunity the founders had originally set out to chase. By the end of 2017 and into 2018, Kapiva shut the clinics entirely, cut its catalogue from roughly 200 products down to about 40, redesigned its packaging, and rebuilt its team to sell through modern trade and online marketplaces instead. This was, in effect, a second founding less than two years after the first one — done on the back of only Rs 4.4 crore in angel capital until Fireside Ventures wrote Kapiva’s first institutional cheque of $2.5 million on 25 January 2019. By that point the brand had scaled to roughly 4,000 retail outlets across ten Indian cities, but it was still a company proving a completely different business model from the one it was originally funded to run.

The turning point

By FY22, four years after the pivot to FMCG, Kapiva had grown its offline and online distribution but remained a modest business: Rs 59.1 crore in revenue against a net loss of Rs 48.1 crore. The turning point was less a single dramatic event than a capital-and-credibility shift that began in October 2022, when OrbiMed Asia — a global healthcare-focused investor — anchored the first tranche of Kapiva’s Series C round. OrbiMed’s involvement pushed Kapiva to invest in things a consumer-brand investor typically would not prioritise: clinical trials, DNA fingerprinting of raw herbal material, and a larger in-house research and development team. The numbers on either side of that shift are stark. In FY22, before the OrbiMed capital and the clinical-validation push took hold, revenue was Rs 59.1 crore. In FY23, the first full year after it, revenue nearly doubled to Rs 114.5 crore, up 93.7% year-on-year. The turnaround was not clean, though — losses grew alongside revenue, rising 34.1% to Rs 64.5 crore in FY23 from Rs 48.1 crore in FY22, which is the pattern that has defined Kapiva’s growth ever since: real revenue scale bought with real, and growing, cash burn.

The money behind it

• 2017, angel round: about Rs 4.4 crore raised from angel investors, the seed capital that funded the original clinic model (Restaurant India, January 2019).
• 25 January 2019, first institutional round: $2.5 million led by Fireside Ventures — the fund’s first cheque into Kapiva gave the company a consumer-brand playbook for distribution and brand-building, and Fireside stayed on as an investor for six years (Restaurant India, January 2019).
• 2021, Series B (reported): about $11 million (Rs 80-85 crore), led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, with Fireside Ventures and other existing backers participating — Vertex became the growth-stage investor that stayed through every subsequent round (industry funding trackers, 2021; figure reported, not independently confirmed via a primary filing this session).
• October 2022 to September 2024, Series C: a round totalling a reported $28 million (upwards of Rs 200 crore) led by OrbiMed Asia with 3one4 Capital and Vertex Ventures participating, raised in tranches — roughly Rs 48.75 crore ($6 million) in October 2022 and a further Rs 83.5 crore (about $10 million) in September 2024. OrbiMed’s healthcare focus is what funded the shift into clinical trials and formal R&D (Entrackr, November 2022; Indian Startup News, September 2024).
• 29 September 2025, Series D: over $60 million co-led by 360 ONE Asset and Vertex Growth, split roughly $28 million primary and about $32 million secondary — the secondary tranche gave Fireside Ventures a complete exit after six years on the cap table (DealStreetAsia, YourStory, Entrackr, September 2025).
• Total raised to date: reported at close to $90 million across rounds by Entrackr (September 2025), while Inc42 puts cumulative capital — including secondary transactions — closer to $120 million; the gap is mostly a question of whether secondary share sales are counted alongside primary funding.
• Valuation: not disclosed publicly for the Series D round or since; earlier private-market estimates circulate on data aggregators but could not be confirmed against a primary source this session, so they have been left out.

How it makes money

• Kapiva earns almost entirely by selling finished ayurvedic nutrition and wellness products directly to consumers — it has not run clinics or offered paid consultations as a business line since the 2018 pivot.
• Channel split, FY25: about 35% of revenue from Kapiva’s own website, about 40% from online marketplaces and quick-commerce apps, and about 25% from offline retail across more than 40,000 stores, with department stores the fastest-growing offline format (Inc42; BW Disrupt/Indian Startup News, September 2025).
• Category concentration: roughly 90% of revenue comes from three ranges — heart health, diabetes care and gym or sports nutrition — with skincare, weight management and general wellness making up the rest (Inc42).
• Ticket size and repeat behaviour: average order value of about Rs 1,000, with repeat customers contributing between 40% and 65% of revenue, and some buyers purchasing a single product up to eight times a year — the loyalty loop that underwrites Kapiva’s growth story (Inc42).
• Cost structure, FY25: advertising and promotion of Rs 188 crore made up 45% of total expenses; cost of materials was Rs 97 crore (23% of expenses); employee benefits were Rs 59 crore (Entrackr, January 2026).
• The part people get wrong: a premium-priced ayurvedic brand looks like it should carry high margins, but Kapiva’s biggest cost line by far is customer acquisition, not raw material. Advertising spend alone (45% of expenses) is nearly double the cost of materials (23%), which is the direct reason revenue growth has not yet turned into profit.

The numbers

Kapiva’s revenue has grown every year since FY22, but so, in three of the last four years, has its loss. Figures are drawn from regulatory filings as reported by Entrackr and Inc42 (unit: Rs crore).

• Revenue growth by year: +93.7% in FY23, roughly +99% in FY24, and +50% in FY25 — strong but decelerating growth as the base gets larger (Entrackr, January 2024 and January 2026).
• FY24 was the one year losses actually fell — to Rs 56 crore from Rs 64.5 crore in FY23 — before rising again to Rs 69 crore in FY25 on the back of a 53% jump in advertising spend (Entrackr, January 2026).
• Cash and bank balances stood at Rs 139 crore as of FY25 year-end, against current assets of Rs 199 crore, giving the company a cash runway independent of the Series D proceeds that followed a few months later (Entrackr, January 2026).
• Kapiva has stated an internal target of Rs 600 crore revenue for FY26 with losses narrowing to single-digit crore figures — a company-stated goal, not an audited outcome (Inc42, 2025).
• Company statements around the Series D also cite an annualised revenue run rate of “over Rs 550 crore” at the time of the raise in September 2025 — a forward-looking, unaudited run-rate figure that sits well above the Rs 342 crore FY25 statutory revenue reported months earlier, and should be read as company-stated rather than filed (BW Disrupt, Indian Startup News, DealStreetAsia, September 2025).

Where the money comes from

• By product category: about 90% of revenue from heart health, diabetes care and gym/sports nutrition combined; the remainder from skincare, weight management and general wellness lines (Inc42).
• By channel: roughly 35% owned website, 40% marketplaces and quick commerce, 25% offline retail across 40,000-plus stores, with a stated target of scaling to about 100,000 outlets within a year of the Series D close (Inc42; SiliconIndia, Indian Startup News, September 2025).
• By geography: domestic India accounts for the large majority of sales; international operations in the UK, the US and the UAE contribute a reported 5-10% of revenue (BW Disrupt, Indian Startup News, September 2025).
• The surprise: despite years of investment in newer categories like skincare and gummies, and despite marketing that increasingly leans on “modern ayurveda” branding, nine of every ten rupees Kapiva earns still comes from three older, condition-specific nutrition categories — the newer lines have expanded the catalogue far more than they have expanded revenue.

The risks

• Tightening regulation of ayurveda health claims: the Ministry of AYUSH, FSSAI and the Advertising Standards Council of India have all stepped up scrutiny of unsubstantiated ayurvedic health claims, and FSSAI introduced a formal “Ayurveda Aahara” food-licensing category from mid-2025 requiring central licensing and stricter compliance for ayurvedic food manufacturers — a direct cost and claims-substantiation burden for a brand whose entire pitch rests on condition-specific benefit claims (FoodNavigator, October 2025).
• Quality and trust perception: ayurvedic products as a category have faced recurring concerns over heavy-metal content exceeding safety limits, a trust gap Kapiva tries to close with ten-stage testing and clinical validation printed on packaging — but one that still deters younger, result-oriented consumers who default to allopathic or globally branded supplements (Inc42).
• Customer-acquisition cost outrunning gross margin: established FMCG rivals — Dabur, Patanjali Ayurved and Himalaya Wellness — carry far larger distribution networks and advertising budgets, while Kapiva’s own advertising spend (45% of FY25 expenses) already outweighs its cost of materials (23%) by nearly two to one. If acquisition costs keep climbing faster than gross margin expands, losses — already up 23% in FY25 — could widen further just as the company is telling investors it is heading toward an IPO within two to three years (Entrackr, January 2026; Inc42, 2025).

The takeaway

Kapiva’s founders started with what looked like an unbeatable inherited advantage: a hundred-year-old family name in ayurveda, and a founder who grew up inside the category. It counted for almost nothing in the market they actually had to win. They still had to shut down their original clinics, cut their product catalogue by 80%, rebuild their team from scratch, and then spend nearly half of every rupee of operating expense on advertising just to get a new, younger, more skeptical customer to believe an ayurvedic supplement could work as well as a modern one. A decade later, that same company is re-entering clinical care through new adherence-led Ayurveda clinics — a sign that the credibility Kapiva spent nine years and roughly $90-120 million building through modern packaging and marketing is now, finally, sturdy enough to be spent on the higher-touch model it originally walked away from. Inherited trust does not transfer automatically into a new channel or a new generation of buyers; it has to be re-earned, in whatever format that generation actually shops in.

Frequently asked questions

What does Kapiva sell?

Ayurvedic nutrition and wellness products — herbal juices, capsules, gummies, powders, teas, ghee, oils and skincare — across more than 100 SKUs, targeted mainly at condition-specific use cases such as diabetes care, heart health and sports nutrition, sold online and through more than 40,000 retail stores.

Who founded Kapiva and when?

Ameve Sharma and Shrey Badhani. The legal entity, Adret Retail Private Limited, was incorporated in 2015, and the Kapiva brand launched in January 2016, originally as a chain of ayurvedic clinics before pivoting to an FMCG model by 2018.

How much funding has Kapiva raised, and who are its investors?

Kapiva has raised money across an angel round (2017), a Fireside Ventures-led first institutional round (January 2019), a Vertex Ventures-led Series B (2021, reported), an OrbiMed Asia-led Series C in tranches (2022-2024), and a Series D of over $60 million co-led by 360 ONE Asset and Vertex Growth in September 2025. Total funding raised is reported at roughly $90-120 million depending on the source and whether secondary transactions are included.

Is Kapiva profitable?

No. Kapiva posted a net loss of Rs 69 crore in FY25 on revenue of Rs 342 crore, its widest loss to date, though the company has stated an internal target of narrowing losses to single-digit crore figures in FY26 alongside Rs 600 crore in revenue.

Is Kapiva planning an IPO?

Founder Ameve Sharma described the September 2025 Series D as a “pre-IPO” fundraise and has stated a target of listing within two to three years, though no formal IPO filing has been made as of this article.

Sources

Figures are as of September 2026. Currency converted at $1 ≈ ₹96.0 as of 18 September 2026 (Trading Economics).

• Entrackr, “Kapiva spends Rs 188 Cr on advertising in FY25; posts Rs 342 Cr revenue”, January 2026
• Entrackr, “Kapiva touches Rs 115 Cr revenue in FY23; improves economics”, January 2024
• Inc42, “Kapiva’s Loss Widens By 34% To INR 64.6 Cr In FY23 As Business Expands”, January 2024
• Inc42, “Kapiva’s Formula: How Clinical Validation Helped Build A Modern Ayurveda Giant”, 2025
• Inc42, Kapiva company financial and funding profile pages, 2025-2026
• Entrackr, “Exclusive: D2C brand Kapiva set to raise over Rs 200 Cr from OrbiMed”, November 2022
• Indian Startup News, “D2C brand specializing in Ayurvedic nutrition, Kapiva raises funding” (Series C extension), September 2024
• Entrackr, “Exclusive: Kapiva raises $10 Mn from existing investors”, September 2024
• Restaurant India, “Kapiva Ayurveda Raises $2.5M Funding from FireSide Ventures, Others”, 25 January 2019
• DealStreetAsia, “India: Ayurveda brand Kapiva snags $60m led by 360 ONE Asset, Vertex Growth”, September 2025
• YourStory, “Kapiva raises $60M in Series D round led by 360 ONE Asset and Vertex Ventures”, September 2025
• BW Disrupt, “Kapiva Secures $60 Mn In Series D Funding Led By 360 ONE & Vertex Growth” and “Kapiva Nears Profitability, Eyes Global Expansion With Rs 550 Cr ARR”, September 2025
• Indian Startup News, “Ayurveda-based wellness and nutrition brand Kapiva reports 50% jump in revenue growth in FY25”, January 2026
• SiliconIndia, “360 ONE Asset, Vertex Growth Lead $60 Million Investment In Kapiva”, September 2025
• Startuptalky, “Kapiva Ayurvedic Nutrition Brand | Company Profile” (founding story and early milestones)
• FoodNavigator, “India regulates Ayurveda Aahara, aligns with food wellness trends”, October 2025

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