Venture Catalysts leads $400K seed round in B2B marketing platform FreeStand

Venture Catalysts, alongside Nocking Point Advisors, has spearheaded a $400,000 seed funding round for FreeStand, a B2B marketing platform. The platform is transforming how product sampling campaigns are executed for major Indian FMCG companies, ensuring targeted and measurable outreach. 

The round also saw participation from IIM-Calcutta Innovation Park, SucSEED Indovation, and strategic angel investors, including Guneet Singh and Varun Singh Hooda.

Redefining the FMCG marketing

FreeStand, co-founded by Sneh Soni, Kavach Chandra, and Konark Sharma, is redefining the FMCG marketing landscape. By organizing and offering hundreds of sampling channels, FreeStand ensures that product samples precisely reach their intended consumers.

The innovative approach has attracted the attention of leading FMCG players such as HUL, Nestle, Reckitt Benckiser, and L’Oreal, among others.

Broadening offerings 

With the fresh infusion of capital, FreeStand is set to broaden its offerings. The startup plans to include event and retail sampling channels, enhancing the scope of its services. Furthermore, leveraging AI technology stands at the forefront of their strategy to simplify and enrich the product experience for FMCG marketers.

Venture Catalysts highlights the potential impact of FreeStand

Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, MD & CEO of Venture Catalysts, highlighted the potential impact of FreeStand in the FMCG sector. With an estimated 20,000 products sampled annually in India, the market for product sampling is expected to burgeon to $1.5 billion–$3 billion by 2027. FreeStand's platform, with its comprehensive array of sampling channels and advanced dashboard for campaign performance measurement, is poised to be a pivotal player in this growth.

The future of FMCG marketing

Konark Sharma, co-founder and CEO of FreeStand, expressed enthusiasm for the future, stating, "FreeStand’s tech supercharges what FMCG brands can accomplish with product sampling."

The startup aims to expand its offerings and integrate AI capabilities signifies a significant leap towards simplifying and enhancing the FMCG marketing experience, promising a more efficient and targeted approach to product sampling campaigns.