Hash, India’s first D2C millennial cigarette brand, announced today that it has raised close to US$ 3.5 mn (INR 25 crores) in recently concluded angel round. The round, that was led by Amrac Investment Trust, also saw participation by marquee angels – Kunal Shah (Founder, Cred, ex-Freecharge), Jitendra Gupta (Founder and CEO, Jupiter), Ashneer Grover (Co-Founder and Managing Director, BharatPe), Ankur Jain (Founder and CEO, Bira91), Anshoo Sharma (Co-Founder and CEO, MagicPin) and Suhail Sameer (Chief Executive Officer, BharatPe). Founded by Shwetank Jain, Hash is committed to empower the unorganized small retailers and paanwalas in the country through mobile-first tech products.
Headquartered in Delhi-NCR, Hash is building disruptive technology-immersed products that will not only help digitize the businesses of paanwalas and small shopowners, but also build a more efficient supply chain and enable credit access to this segment, thereby boosting sales of its own brand Hash and other new age brands in the country. Shwetank holds a Masters in Management from UCLA University, and has successfully built a Rs. 100 crores turnover home textile brand Tapisserie in 3 years. The Hash team also includes seasoned professionals from the tobacco and FMCG industry including Mr. Jaskaran Singh Khurana, ex-Managing director for Golden Tobacco Limited.
Speaking on the fund raise, Mr. Shwetank Jain, Founder, Hash, said, “Tobacco industry has a set of traditional players and aged brands. There is a large addressable market for freshly envisioned products targeted at millennials and distributed efficiently using technology. Also, there is urgent need to equip the millions of unorganized sellers and paanwalas with the latest technology solutions, so as to aid in their business growth and efficiency. With Hash, we are committed to empower this category of small shopowners and paanwalas.”
Added Mr. Kapil Chugh, Fund Promoter, Amrac Investment Trust, “Hash has the potential to do to tobacco what BIRA did to the alcobev industry. The interesting challenge is not only to introduce millennial first products, but at the same time change the way the product is distributed to lakhs of paanwaalas by disrupting supply chain using technology.”
Hash aims to build a team of 500+ professionals across levels, including feet on street sales force by the end of the current financial year.
