Co-founders Ankita Thadani, Akash Valia and Samantha Ruth Prabhu aim to build India’s first clean perfume brand with Secret Alchemist India, January 2026: Secret Alchemist, India’s first clean perfume brand, has raised $3 million in a seed funding round led by Unilever Ventures with participation from DSG Consumer Partners. Founded by Ankita Thadani, Akash Valia, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, the brand is redefining Indian perfumery by creating clean, ingredient-led fragrances designed for modern consumers. Secret Alchemist has raised $3 million in a seed round comprising both primary and secondary capital. With prior backing from IPV, the latest investment reflects sustained institutional confidence in the brand’s long-term vision and ability to build a category. Rooted in aromatherapy and essential oils, Secret Alchemist began its journey with ailment-led wellness solutions and has since evolved into a fragrance-first brand. Today, it blends the science of aromatherapy with contemporary perfumery to create lifestyle-led, emotion-driven clean fragrances bridging wellness, scent, and self-expression. The capital raised will be utilized to expand the brand’s clean fragrance portfolio, strengthen formulation depth and R&D capabilities, and build leadership and core teams. Secret Alchemist will also invest in scaling brand presence and distribution as it continues to build an India-first brand with global ambitions. Commenting on the fundraise, Ankita Thadani, Co-Founder of Secret Alchemist, said, “Globally, “clean” has become a baseline in beauty and personal care, and fragrance is naturally moving in that direction. With Secret Alchemist, our focus is on building perfumes that are ingredient-led, well-formulated, and uncompromising on quality. We are among the first in India to openly publish full ingredient and allergen disclosures in perfumery, because for us, clean means being honest. This investment allows us to deepen product innovation and strengthen our R&D capabilities in line with that belief.” Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Co-Founder of Secret Alchemist, added, “As Secret Alchemist evolves, this feels like the right moment for us. It gives us the opportunity to build more deeply on what matters: clean ingredients, thoughtful formulations, and fragrances people genuinely enjoy using every day.” Akash Valia, Co-Founder, of Secret Alchemist, said, “Clean fragrance is seeing strong traction globally, and India is ready for brands built with that mindset from day one. This fundraise allows us to scale Secret Alchemist as a fragrance-first, ingredient-led clean perfume brand while strengthening distribution and brand presence and eventually bringing Indian perfumes to the global market.” Commenting on leading the investment round, Pawan Chaturvedi , Partner & Head of Asia at Unilever Ventures, said “We are delighted to partner with Secret Alchemist as it builds one of India’s first clean, fragrance indie brands. Clean has already become a norm in beauty globally, and we are beginning to see fragrance follow the same trajectory, and Secret Alchemist is well positioned to lead this emerging category in India.” Commenting on the investment, Hariharan Premkumar MD & Head of India at DSG Consumer Partners said, “We have believed in the clean fragrances opportunity for many years. With Secret Alchemist, we found a strong founding team in Ankita and Akash with deep product capabilities. They are building high-quality fragrances at attractive price points. The brand is backed by a celebrity founder who is not just lending her name but is a power user and deeply involved in building the product. Given the significant under-penetration of the fragrances category in India, we are highly bullish on the long-term potential of the brand and the category.” About Secret Alchemist: Secret Alchemist is focused on building a founder-led, long-term brand for modern, conscious consumers seeking high-quality fragrances that are clean, intentional, and emotionally resonant. For more information, visit https://www.secretalchemist.com/ About Unilever Ventures: The venture and growth capital arm of Unilever empowers a new breed of forward-thinking entrepreneurs with groundbreaking ideas and ambitions to transform the world. Our mission extends beyond mere capital provision; we enable these visionaries to cultivate distinctive brands and innovative technology solutions that resonate on a global scale. Unilever Ventures brings unrivaled expertise and leadership in the consumer goods industry, from the factory to the end user. Unilever Ventures has investments in beauty brands like Minimalist, Plum, Wishcare, ClayCo, Ras, SkinInspired, Whatsup Wellness, and Arata in India. For more information, visit https://www.unileverventures.com/ About DSG Consumer Partners: DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP) is an early-stage venture capital fund focused on investing exclusively in consumer brands and businesses in India and Southeast Asia. Since its inception in 2012, DSGCP has backed over 90 brands and helped build some of the leading insurgent brands, including Sula Wines, Veeba, Epigamia, Farmley, Anveshan, GoZero, SleepyOwl, Ugaoo, and StayVista. DSGCP currently manages US$300+ million of committed capital and has investment professionals and advisors in Mumbai, Singapore, and Mauritius. For more information, visit www.dsgcp.com (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with NRDPL and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI