Brands
Chini Kum raises Rs 1 Cr, debuts zero sugar beverages in India
NEW DELHI: India’s sugar hangover may finally be wearing off. Chini Kum, a new-age beverage brand with a cheeky name and a serious mission, has entered the market with zero-sugar, low-calorie drinks and Rs 1 crore in pre-seed funding to fuel its ambitions.
Launching first on its own D2C platform and making an exclusive quick-commerce debut on Swiggy Instamart, Chini Kum is betting big on healthier hydration. The range spans both carbonated and non-carbonated drinks in Lemon and Mango flavours, naturally sweetened with stevia and monk fruit. Each bottle comes fortified with prebiotic fibre and clocks in at just around 7 calories per 100 ml, a far cry from the sugar-loaded staples that dominate the shelves.
The funding round saw participation from a clutch of well-known angels, including Shobhit Gupta of One8 Commune Restaurants, Varun Sachdeva of boAt, and Eiti Singhal of Eiti Ventures, alongside other strategic investors and the founder himself. The capital will be used to sharpen product innovation, expand flavours and take the brand national.
Founder Priyank Jain said the timing could not be better. As Indian consumers read labels more closely and rethink sugar-heavy diets, the gap for clean, everyday beverages is widening. Chini Kum, he believes, is built to fill that space with transparency, taste and a lighter calorie count.
Priced from Rs. 30 for a 160 ml pack, the brand aims to stay accessible while keeping its ingredient list honest. For now, the focus is on metros and tier 1 cities, with quick commerce serving as the launchpad and classroom for consumer education.
With its playful branding, functional benefits and a clear stance against excess sugar, Chini Kum is making a confident first sip in India’s crowded beverage market. Whether it becomes a daily habit remains to be seen, but it has certainly made cutting sugar look a lot more refreshing.
Brands
UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
