Founded in 2024 by Harini Rajagopalan, formerly with Amazon and Flipkart Group, and Muraleedharan, formerly with Uber India, Basil began with compartment-style lunchboxes, also known as bento boxes.Direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand for kids’ essentials, Basil, has raised $2 million in a funding round led by Prime Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors Appreciate Capital and IIMA Ventures.
The company will use the fresh capital to expand into new product categories such as bags and water bottles, hire across leadership and product teams, and invest in branding and marketing, Mahesh Muraleedharan, COO and cofounder, told ET in a conversation.
Founded in 2024 by Harini Rajagopalan, formerly with Amazon and Flipkart Group, and Muraleedharan, formerly with Uber India, Basil began with compartment-style lunchboxes, also known as bento boxes.
“There are many brands for babies and adults, but hardly any for kids aged 4 to 12 and speaking their language. That’s the gap we are trying to fill,” said Rajagopalan.
“We target urban millennial parents in metros. Our products use 304 FDA-certified stainless steel and dishwasher-safe visual prints. We will enter the mass-premium range, including under- ₹1,000 products, but will not compete in the mass segment,” she added.
According to the company, it has patent designs for the products it produces via contract manufacturers. About 60% of its revenue comes from its D2C website, and the rest from Amazon.
Currently, the startup is clocking ₹36 crore in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and expects to reach ₹100 crore in the next 12 months as it expands to new product categories.
“We will focus on school essentials even as we launch new items and expand categories. The goal is to become a destination for kids’ essentials,” said Muraleedharan.
Prior to this round, it had raised ₹3.6 crore in 2024.
This marks Prime Venture Partners’ first investment in a consumer brand. Commenting on the funding, Brij Bhushan, managing partner of Prime Venture Partners, said, “Basil is building products that parents genuinely care about and actively choose. What stood out to us was the team’s deep focus on quality, design, and getting the basics right.”
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