MAM
Pantaloon aligns its media AOR with Carat
MUMBAI: Pantaloon Retail India Limited has decided to align the media AOR of its value and lifestyles retailing stores to Carat Media Services India Private Limited.
The company operates in the value retail domain through Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Gold Bazaar and Footwear Bazaar. Under lifestyle retail, the brands are Pantaloons and Central. The incumbent agency was Insight.
Pantaloon Retail head marketing Sanjeev Agrawal says, “We are taking the ROI aspect of media to the next level. For this we wanted to partner with an agency that has sound understanding of the processes and has used the same to further other clients businesses. It was in this aspect that Carat did lot of good work. Carat also has a strong understanding and use of research and other statistical proprietary tools.”
Agrawal further adds, “We required partnering with an agency that is very strong and would bring on board fresh strategic and tactical skills.”
Carat CEO West and South Shripad Kulkarni says, “Retail is a very big opportunity and an even bigger challenge for Media. We look forward to this challenge, armed with Carat global learnings and working as a part of Sanjeev’s team.”
Carat Group CEO Charles Jenarius adds, ‘In Singapore and Australia, Carat has worked out effective solutions for retail, including sophisticated response modeling. It was this learning which we adapted to the Indian market that helped us winning the clients confidence.”
The key accounts of Carat include Philips, Adidas, General Mills, Dabur, Max New York Life, Ozone Pharma, Universal dairy UDV, Mattel Toys, Sahara, and AAG, the Guild comprising 32 Delhi Headquartered Agencies now.
Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd is also looking at selling a 4.53 per cent stake to Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd, to raise funds for its expansion.
Brands
Pre-seed funding fuels nailinit, India’s new-age nail care brand
Gruhas Collective Consumer Fund backs Gen Z-focused beauty startup
MUMBAI: nailinit, a community-first nail care startup targeting Gen Z and millennials, has raised Rs 2.5 to Rs 3 crore in a pre-seed round led by Gruhas Collective Consumer Fund and Marsshot VC, alongside a clutch of consumer, technology and operator angels.
Backed by entrepreneur and investor Nikhil Kamath, Gruhas Collective Consumer Fund is betting on nailinit’s attempt to give India’s nail care aisle a long overdue makeover. The fresh capital will be used to deepen distribution across quick commerce and D2C channels, build its community engine, and accelerate product innovation in a category that is high frequency but still light on strong brands.
Founded by Tanishq Ambegaokar and Shubham Singhal, nailinit is positioning itself at the crossroads of beauty, self-expression and culture. The brand wants nails to be more than a finishing touch. It sees them as a canvas for identity, content and commerce.
“At nailinit, we are building for a generation that sees beauty as self-expression, not just routine,” said Ambegaokar. “The nail category in India has largely been underserved by strong brands. This capital allows us to invest in product depth, community and distribution in a thoughtful and long-term way.”
Singhal added that while the brand’s tone may be playful, its operating focus is sharp. “This round strengthens our supply chain, expands our digital footprint and enables disciplined execution as we scale.”
The funding round drew notable angels including Shashank Kumar of Razorpay, Arjit Johri of Marsshot VC, Yash Jain, formerly of NimbusPost, Karan Jindal of Meta, Jivraj Singh Sachar of ISV Capital, Nishank Jain of Accel, Yashvardhan Kanoi, Ashwarya Garg of HYPD, Venus Dhuria of Phot.AI and Amishi Parasrampuria of The Whole Truth.
Gruhas Collective Consumer Fund fund manager Gauri Kuchhal, believes the opportunity lies in shifting habits. “Nail care remains underpenetrated in India, with consumers relying on time-intensive salon visits. As convenience and self-expression gain ground, press-on nails can unlock more frequent and experimental usage. Nailinit is well-placed to expand beyond press-ons into adjacent categories.”
The brand is currently the only nail care player in India blending product-led retail with a dedicated kiosk at Jio World Drive in Bandra, where customers can walk in for services while discovering the range. It has also built early traction across quick commerce platforms such as Zepto and Blinkit, with a launch on Instamart in the pipeline, and is available on Amazon, strengthening its omnichannel presence.
In a space long dominated by salon chairs and scattered labels, nailinit is attempting to file, shape and polish the category into something sharper. With fresh funding in hand, the startup is setting out to prove that in beauty, small details can make a bold statement.
