Delhi-based sugar substitute manufacturer The Sweet Change has raised Rs 1.7 crore in a pre-seed funding round led by early-stage accelerator and angel community Rebalance. The round also saw participation from individual investors associated with the IAN Angel Fund. The capital will be used to expand the company’s distribution network, introduce new product lines, and scale operations within the alternative sweeteners category.
Founded in 2024 by Manvi Agnihotri and Sheen Hitaishi, the startup formulates natural sweeteners utilizing monk fruit, allulose, and prebiotic guar fibre. The product formulation deliberately excludes erythritol, artificial ingredients, or fillers, targeting health-conscious consumers who aim to lower their daily sugar intake without altering food flavors.
Scaling Portfolio
The company operates in India's sugar substitutes sector, an industry estimated to be valued at over $650 million. Since entering the market, the enterprise has registered more than Rs 1.69 crore in cumulative revenue, servicing over 15,000 consumer orders within twelve months of its commercial launch.
Financial disclosures from the firm indicate an 84% month-on-month compounded growth rate over the previous three months. This growth was driven by the introduction of its specialized sweetener drops in March 2026, which helped elevate monthly revenues from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. The management claims to maintain gross profit margins of 75%, establishing the brand among the top-performing sweetener labels on the Amazon India marketplace.
"The capital infusion will be directed entirely toward deepening our distribution pipelines and bringing new, clean-label alternatives to the shelves. Reaching Rs 50 lakh in monthly revenue shortly after introducing our sweetener drops validates the consumer demand for authentic, filler-free options," stated Manvi Agnihotri, Co-founder of The Sweet Change.
Institutional Backing
The lead investor, Rebalance, operates as an early-stage accelerator and angel network providing up to $250,000 in capital to pre-seed and seed-stage ventures. Active since 2019, the firm has backed 30 startups, maintaining a investment thesis where female-led enterprises account for 75% of its total portfolio companies.
The capital allocation comes at a time when consumer preferences are shifting away from traditional high-calorie sweeteners and chemical-heavy sugar substitutes, creating room for newer, plant-based formulations to secure market share.
"Securing institutional backing allows us to accelerate our product pipeline. Our current formulation, which relies purely on monk fruit and prebiotic fibers without relying on common bulking agents like erythritol, positions us directly to scale across major e-commerce and retail channels," added Co-founder Sheen Hitaishi.
The immediate operational focus for the startup will involve establishing deeper penetration into metros and tier-1 urban pockets where awareness of low-glycemic dietary habits remains high. The broader corporate objective centers on capturing a permanent share of the domestic lifestyle retail sector by transitioning from a digital-first marketplace brand into an omnichannel consumer goods entity.
