Neothera Secures ₹9 Crore Pre-Seed Round Led by Blume Ventures to Build India's Next Generation Skin Health Company
Neothera, a science-led skin health company reimagining how chronic skin conditions are treated, has raised ₹9 crore in pre-seed funding led by Blume Ventures, with participation from the Barbershop Fund (the investment syndicate led by Bombay Shaving Company Founder Shantanu Deshpande), Consumer Collective, and Veltis Capital. The round also saw participation from marquee angels like Arjun Purkayastha (SVP & Managing Director, Reckitt), Malika Sadani (Founder, The Moms Co.), Mukul Rastogi (Founder, Classplus), and Diksha Pandey (Founder, Samosa Party), among others.
The funding was raised in August 2025 at the idea stage, prior to product launch, reflecting strong investor conviction in Neothera's vision to build a new category at the intersection of healthcare, consumer technology, and personal care.
Founded by Radhika Agarwal, former consumer-tech investor at Blume Ventures and Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2023 honouree, Neothera is challenging the conventional approach to acne treatment. While most skincare solutions focus on managing only visible symptoms, Neothera's model is built around identifying and addressing the underlying causes of skin conditions through a combination of diagnostics, behavioural interventions, doctor-backed protocols, technology, and targeted clinical formulations.
Launched with an integrated 8-week acne care program, the company combines root-cause diagnosis, personalized habit interventions, nutritional guidance, AI-powered support, and formulations that are designed for sensitive and acne-prone skin, perfected over many months of R&D, and clinically tested by independent labs.
"We're building Neothera on the belief that skin conditions cannot be solved through products alone. By combining diagnostics, behavioural interventions, technology, and scientifically formulated products, we're creating a more effective approach to skin health. We're grateful to have the backing of Blume Ventures and our investors, whose conviction in this vision will help us accelerate product innovation, strengthen our technology capabilities, and make skin health solutions more accessible." - Radhika Agarwal, Founder, Neothera
Prior to founding Neothera, Agarwal spent nearly five years at Blume Ventures, where she focused on consumer technology investments and built Lead Tribe, a program supporting high-potential women founders. Her move from Venture Capital to entrepreneurship marks a full-circle journey, with Blume now backing her as a portfolio company.
"While the ‘beauty’ market has seen a lot of players arise, the skin health and derma-care market still remains underserved, despite being one of the largest opportunities in consumer healthcare," said Sajith Pai, Partner, Blume Ventures. "What stood out to us was Neothera's ambition to go beyond topical products and build a comprehensive care model around chronic skin conditions. Radhika brings a rare combination of consumer insight, operational rigour, and deep obsession with solving the problem, making her uniquely positioned to build in this category."
The company launches after nearly 20 months of research, formulation development, testing, and beta trials conducted alongside dermatologists, nutrition experts, and formulators. Neothera has developed its initial portfolio entirely in-house and has already worked with early users through pilot programs to refine its treatment protocols before launch.
The capital will be used to further strengthen Neothera's technology capabilities, expand its product portfolio, invest in research and development, grow its clinical and scientific team, and scale customer acquisition across India.
As consumers increasingly seek science-backed, personalised solutions for chronic skin concerns, Neothera aims to establish itself as a category-defining brand focused on long-term skin health rather than short-term skincare fixes.
Muskaan Kapoor
