New Delhi, June 8 -- Zenith Drinks Pvt. Ltd, which offers Ayurveda-based wellness products under the Auric brand, is in an advanced stage of discussion for a fresh funding round as it looks to strengthen its nutraceutical offerings, a top executive told VCCircle.

The New Delhi-headquartered company, backed by investors such as Cactus Venture Partners, Manjushree Ventures and LogX Venture Partners, is in talks with investors to raise as much as $15 million (around Rs 143 crore) for a Series B round, Deepak Agarwal, founder of Auric, told VCCircle on the sidelines of the Nutrify C-Suite Summit.

Investment bank Meresis Advisors is helping the firm with the fundraising.

The round comes nearly five years after Auric secured over $2 million in a pre-Series A round led by Venture Catalysts, Cactus Venture Partners, and 9Unicorns.

Agarwal said Auric will use the proceeds from the round to initiate clinical studies in the US, create new products and expand the team.

Pivot in strategy

Founded in 2017, Auric is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand offering supplements and nutraceutical products anchored in Ayurveda. It initially sold anti-ageing drinks. However, in 2023, the company made a "hard" pivot, moving away from nutraceutical beverages to dissolvable effervescent tablets, Agarwal said, adding that the company's previous capital raise supported this transition.

Auric had raised an undisclosed amount of capital in bridge rounds between 2023 and 2025. Agarwal and his family have invested alongside Cactus Partners in the company, with almost 40% of the raised capital coming from him and his family, he said. Along with the 2021 round, the company has raised more than $4 million in funding from various venture capital firms and angel investors, according to VCCEdge.

Currently, the company offers products such as effervescent tablets for liver detox, easier bowel movement, lung detox and skin radiance, according to its website.

The company formulates these Ayurveda-based products. Agarwal said the company has its own ingredient supply chain but gets its products manufactured through contract manufacturers.

From one product to many

Agarwal, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, and a former Hindustan Unilever executive, said the company has shortlisted 10 products across categories-including gut health, sleep, diabetes, and sexual wellness-for future launches.

"We built our entire business on one hero product, which is Auric Liver Detox, and now we have expanded it into multiple other use cases," he said.

Last month, Auric launched wellness products for skin, hair, and nails. More recently, it launched pre-workout nutraceutical products and launched a tablet to prevent hangovers after alcohol consumption.

"This year our target is to launch one to two products every quarter for the next four quarters," he said.

Revenue drivers

According to Agarwal, Auric generated around Rs 125 crore revenue in fiscal 2026, up more than 13% from the preceding period.

In FY25, the nutraceuticals and food businesses (including cow ghee) accounted for around 60% and 40% of the Rs 110 crore topline, respectively. Following the US tariffs earlier last year, the company closed its foods business, and nutraceuticals now bring in all of its revenue. "Our nutra business is growing 3x year-on-year."

In FY26, Auric's Ebitda margin was negative 4-5%, Agarwal said, adding that the company should break even this year.

About 60% of Auric's topline comes from the US market, where the nutraceutical penetration is to the north of 70%, Agarwal said. In comparison, India, which constitutes the remainder, has penetration in the range of 7-8%, he added.

"The marketing objective in the US is to gain market share, as it is already a large market. In India, you have to grow ahead of the market because as penetration increases, per capita consumption of nutraceuticals will increase tenfold."

According to market research firm Fact.MR, the global dietary supplement market was pegged at $209 billion in 2025 and is seen hitting $500 billion by 2035. The Asia Pacific region was the fastest growing, led by Japan, India and China.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.