OZiva, an active nutrition and wellness brand, made ₹463 crore in operating revenue in FY26 and spent ₹246 crore on advertising and promotions. That means more than half its revenue went into getting people to notice the brand, trust it and buy. For a protein company, that is a very high number. But this is also a category where trust is unusually expensive to build.
Indian consumers have seen enough stories around fake supplements, wrong labels and poor-quality protein to be cautious. A 2024 study of 36 protein supplements sold in India found that 25 had less protein than what was claimed on the label. A later study found much better accuracy among mainstream nutraceutical brands, but the broader perception problem remains. In protein, the brand is not just selling 25 grams of powder. It is also selling the assurance that those 25 grams are actually there.
OZiva has grown fast. Revenue went from about ₹104 crore in FY24 to ₹258 crore in FY25 and ₹463 crore in FY26. But advertising went from roughly ₹62 crore to ₹120 crore and then ₹246 crore. This is where the story gets uncomfortable. In FY25, an extra ₹58 crore of advertising helped add around ₹154 crore of revenue. In FY26, OZiva spent another ₹126 crore to add ₹206 crore of revenue. Growth is still coming, but it is becoming more expensive.
The company is still only around ₹17 crore negative at EBITDA level, so this is not a broken business. The bigger issue is whether OZiva can stop paying so much for every new customer.
HUL’s ownership should help. It paid ₹824 crore for the remaining 49% of OZiva after first buying control. HUL is not betting on pea protein. That can be copied. It is betting on OZiva becoming a wider health brand selling protein, vitamins, collagen, hair products and other supplements to the same consumer.
HealthKart shows what scale can eventually look like. It spent about ₹263 crore on advertising in FY25, almost the same as OZiva, but generated more than ₹1,300 crore of revenue and was profitable.
That is the real benchmark now. OZiva’s advertising was 53% of revenue in FY26. If that falls sharply as sales grow, HUL’s bet starts making sense. If OZiva reaches ₹700-800 crore and still needs to spend close to half its revenue on marketing, then the problem is not growth. The problem is that the brand still has to keep buying its customers back.
Let’s go through what else is happening in Indian startup world - Grab your simmering cup of StartupChai.in and unwind with our hand-brewed memes.
“Aajaa Meri Gaadi Mein Baith Jaa”: Bharat Taxi Faces Coercion Allegations
Bharat Taxi is facing coercion allegations in Gujarat.
Passengers and drivers claim groups blocked Uber and Rapido rides and pushed them toward Bharat Taxi.
Read more here
“Kaddu Katega Sab Mein Batega”: K12 Techno Services Grants ESOPs
K12 Techno Services has granted fresh ESOPs worth around $20 Mn to employees.
The Orchids International operator issued the options under its ESOP Scheme 2026.
Read more here
“Le Deke Settle Karte Hai”: BYJU’S Settles Rights Issue Dispute
BYJU’S has reportedly settled its long-running rights issue dispute with Aakash.
The settlement was informed to the Bengaluru bench of the NCLT.
Read more here
“Kuch Daring Karna Hai”: Amazon India To Invest $3 Bn
Amazon India plans to invest $3 Bn in quick commerce by 2030.
It will invest $1 Bn by 2027-end, followed by another $2 Bn.
“Waqt Rehte Nikal Lo”: A91 Partners, Xponentia Sell SEDEMAC Shares
A91 Partners, Xponentia and other investors have offloaded ₹1,456 Cr worth of SEDEMAC shares.
This marks their second stake sale after the company’s IPO earlier this year.
Read more here
“Halka Mehsoos Ho Raha Hai”: Accel, 360 ONE Offload BlueStone Shares
Accel and 360 ONE have offloaded ₹513 Cr worth of BlueStone shares through block deals.
Accel sold 17.4% of its stake, while 360 ONE funds also trimmed holdings.
Read more here
“Lo Chali Mai”: TPG Exits FirstCry With ₹202 Cr Bulk Deal
TPG has exited FirstCry through a ₹202 Cr bulk deal.
Its NewQuest fund sold the entire 2.21% stake in the kidswear company.
Read more here
“Kuch Naya Ho Jaaye”: Rapido Launches Ownly Food Delivery In Hyderabad
Rapido has launched its standalone food-delivery app Ownly in Hyderabad, its second market after Bengaluru. It operates through a zero-commission model.
Customers pay a delivery fee reflecting the cost of fulfilment, while Rapido’s driver network handles deliveries.
Read more here
“Aaj Se Tum Hamare Hue”: Dr Lal PathLabs To Buy 70% Of SN Genelab
Dr Lal PathLabs has agreed to acquire a 70% controlling stake in Surat-based diagnostic company SN Genelab for ₹168 Cr in cash.
The transaction will strengthen Dr Lal PathLabs’ presence in genomics and advanced diagnostics. SN Gene operates three Indian laboratories and one facility in the UAE.
Read more here
“Hum Saath Saath Hai”: True North Acquires Minority Stake In InMobi
True North has acquired a 2-3% stake in InMobi for around $50-60 Mn.
The deal gives some early investors a partial exit ahead of InMobi’s IPO.
Read more here
“Sab Changa Si”: Govt Mulls ₹20,000 Cr Fund To Power Frontier AI
The Centre is reportedly considering an anchor investment of ₹15,000–20,000 Cr in a proposed National Frontier AI and Compute Fund. The fund could support frontier AI startups, GPU clusters and specialised data centres.
The proposal remains under consultation, with its corpus, structure and governance yet to be finalised.
Read more here
IPO-bound AceVector has raised ₹189 Cr from anchor investors. It allotted 5.91 Cr shares at ₹32 apiece.
Read more here
IIT Madras and Unicorn India Ventures have marked the first close of their frontier tech fund at ₹450 Cr. The fund has already deployed nearly ₹55 Cr across four startups.
Read more here
Aequs plans to raise ₹650 Cr through a preferential issue of warrants. The funds will support its manufacturing capacity.
Read more here
GalaxEye has secured ₹63.8 Cr under the Centre’s RDI Fund. The funding will support its indigenous multisensor satellite technology.
Read more here
Hospitality AI startup Dextr AI has raised $6.7 Mn in seed funding. Elevation Capital led the round, with participation from Foundation Capital.
Read more here
Dating startup Rivet has raised $10.5 Mn in seed funding. Peak XV Partners, Shine Capital and Blume Ventures backed the round.
Read more here
CodeKarma is in talks to raise $5-6 Mn in fresh funding. Prosus and Accel are reportedly in discussions to back the round.
Read more here
Rio Health has raised $4.5 Mn to scale its quick pharmacy network. The startup plans to add 12 dark stores across Delhi NCR.
Read more here
AI edtech startup Arivihan is raising ₹96 Cr in a Series A round. Accel and Prosus are co-leading the round.
Read more here
Gaming startup 1312 Interactive has raised $1 Mn in a seed round led by Chimera VC and T-Accelerate Capital. Ventana Ventures and angel investors Rahul Reddy, Rohan Murukutla and Dasari Srinivas also participated.
Read more here
