Honestly Raises Rs 3.2 Cr Pre-Seed Funding from Better Capital 

Honestly, an AI-powered beauty and personal care platform, announced it has secured Rs 3.2 crore in pre-seed funding led by Better Capital, along with participation from Kunal Shah-led QED Innovations and senior leaders from Flipkart, Polygon, and Cred. 

The company claims to bridge the gap between the booming online beauty market and the consumer's struggle to find trustworthy reviews of products. 

"While social media has helped educate people about skincare, haircare, and makeup, it has also added to the confusion. We're thrilled to be backed by investors who understand the problem. This investment will enable us to build a strong engineering and marketing founding team over the next few monthss," said Karishma Rathaur, Founder,  honestly. 

“A quick skim on beauty on Reddits confirms how broken skin care is today, especially when more and more consumers are proactively looking to take care of their skin. We are excited to partner with Karishma and Vivek as they build Honestly and Honestly AI to fix everything that is broken in skincare with a trust-first approach,"  said Vaibhav Domkundwar of Better Capital.

Honestly uses an AI-powered algorithm to analyze each user's order history, allowing it to gain a comprehensive understanding of individual preferences. Using this information, the platform says that it connects users with others who share over 100 similar attributes, including skin tone, skin type, age, and gender, to discuss product recommendations. Additionally, Honestly AI examines product ingredients, aiding users in understanding how new products might fit into their existing routines, as per a company statement. 

Artificial intelligence is being used in the beauty segment as well. In 2021, Nykaa came up with an AI-powered virtual technology called ModiFace. Its advanced face tracker algorithm detects lips, eyes, cheeks, and hair, applying virtual cosmetics to provide a real-time, true-to-life view of products, as per a company statement. Similarly, in 2024, Tira, the new venture of Reliance Retail, also came up with AI tools to offer in-store experiences with customers.