AI-Powered E-Commerce Platform Worthy Cart Eyes $10 Mn In Pre-Series A Funding For Expansion

Worthy Cart, an AI-powered e-commerce platform, is redefining beauty and wellness shopping with a focus on ‘quality commerce.’ Co-founded by Sonya Sahni, the platform offers rigorously quality-checked beauty and wellness products validated by experts, ensuring safety and transparency in a cluttered market.

“We are revolutionizing the industry by prioritizing consumer well-being over fancy packaging and false claims,” in an exclusive interview, Sahni told Bizz Buzz. Worthy Cart’s innovative features include a four-step product validation process, concern-based search filters, and ‘WorthyAI,’ an advanced recommendation system. With only 7 per cent of 12,000 evaluated products making the cut, the platform guarantees trustworthy options tailored for every individual

What is the USP of the Worthy Cart platform and how is it different from the competition?

Worthy Cart is an expert-driven, AI-powered e-commerce platform offering a comprehensive range of expert-validated, quality-checked beauty, and wellness products. While traditional platforms focus on variety through e-commerce and speed through quick commerce, Worthy Cart pioneers in “quality commerce.”

That is, our platform relies on a rigorous four-step quality testing process conducted by experts and doctors, to provide a selection of handpicked, “worthy” products. Anyone seeking high-quality products for their health and skin can trust this process to deliver only the best. This four-step validation process includes decoding ingredients, physical examination, verification of all claims, and random batch testing for ingredients potency.

Additionally, the platform has provided the feature of ‘concern-based search filters,’ which will help consumers to accurately define the performance metrics they want a product to deliver to. The platform also has ‘WorthyAI’ which leverages cutting-edge VectorLake multi-agent technology—a system where one AI interacts with another to deliver the best product recommendations in real time.

As a one-stop shop for all health, wellness, and beauty products, Worthy Cart aims to clear the clutter and embrace inclusivity, offering products tailored to every age and gender. The platform also features short videos, aka ‘Worthy Shorts’ featuring Worthy Cart professionals sharing tips and tricks with customers for an enhanced shopping experience and clear, accessible insights.

You claim to be revolutionizing the beauty and wellness industry. How?

We are revolutionizing the beauty and wellness industry by setting new standards for transparency, quality, and safety. When you go to a typical marketplace you get thousands of products to choose from. However, the real quality products are lost among the false claims and fancy packaging. In a market filled with misinformation and poorly regulated products, Worthy Cart delivers best and transparent information to consumers. Every product offered on its platform undergoes rigorous quality tests and expert validation, ensuring what you buy is safe, effective, and trustworthy. Worthy Cart is not a marketplace; it’s a movement, an ecosystem for your care with best health and beauty outcomes.

Worthy Cart’s mission is to put the consumer self-care first. Therefore, as I mentioned earlier, each offered product goes through a thorough four-step selection process to guarantee it meets the highest standards of quality and safety. These steps include decoding of ingredients by doctors, physical examination by doctors, lab compliance verification, quality testing for the listed products by the quality control team, and industry experts and unbiased advisors.

Are products rejected too?

Yes. Out of over 12,000 evaluated products, only 7 per cent have reached Worthy Cart’s shopping list, ensuring only the finest products make it into our beauty and wellness routine.

Worthy Cart, has launched Worthy AI, a proprietary conversational shopping assistant that combines cutting-edge AI technology with expertly curated health and beauty products.

Unlike traditional platforms, Worthy Cart emphasizes curated selections, backed by in-house experts and rigorous batch testing, guaranteeing only the finest products make it to the shelves. Expert intelligence and AI make sure that people looking for health are also suggested the right self-care products and customers looking for beauty products are also offered the best suited health product for best long-term benefits to them.

Every product passing the stringent evaluation earns the 'Worthy for You' stamp, which is a trusted mark of quality and safety. This certification is not just a label, but a promise that the product has been thoroughly assessed and proven effective. With Worthy Cart, it’s time for India to Choose Wise.

How much money have you raised?

Our funding journey has been strategic and thoughtful. We recently secured seed funding from a strategic long-term investor who shares our vision for transforming the beauty and health shopping experience through responsible AI. This investment has been crucial in supporting our AI implementation and platform launch. In terms of figures, the total investment in the business so far is approximately Rs 2.5 crore.

Do you intend to raise more?

Looking ahead, we have clear funding milestones. We are actively pursuing the $10 million pre-series ‘A’ round, with major deployment planned in the coming quarter. This funding is expected to provide a runway of 24-30 months. We are in discussions with deep-tech and health-and-beauty-focused funds which are supporting our vision of building India’s first AI-based personalized shopping experience in the beauty and health categories.

What makes our investment prospects particularly strong are our unique positioning in the market with responsible AI, strong validation from our current strategic investor, clear path to scalability through B2B and B2C channels, rigorous quality control processes already in place, and the growing market in beauty and health sectors.

The interest we’re seeing from potential investors, particularly overseas strategic partners, validates our business model and growth potential. Their expertise in global markets could add significant value beyond just capital as we scale our operations.

You talked about false claims and fancy packaging. What harm can they cause?

Such claims often mislead people to buy wrong products. The problems they cause are numerous. I will list only a few. Skin and beauty-related issues can pertain to allergic reactions. Ingredients like unregulated fragrances or preservatives can cause hives, redness, itching, or swelling. There can be acne and breakouts, non-verified products may clog pores with comedogenic ingredients, worsening skin conditions.

Also, there can be skin burns or discoloration, because harsh, unchecked chemicals (e.g., hydroquinone) can lead to chemical burns, hyperpigmentation, or uneven skin tone. Long-term skin damage can result from prolonged use of unsafe products which can weaken the skin barrier, making it prone to infections, dryness, and sensitivity. Hair loss is another danger, as contaminated hair care products can lead to scalp irritation, dandruff, or even hair thinning and loss.

Bad products can also cause health-related problems like hormonal imbalances; toxins like parabens and phthalates can mimic hormones, disrupting your endocrine system and leading to issues like PCOS or infertility. If there are heavy metals (e.g., mercury in skin creams), chronic illnesses can result from the accumulation in the body, increasing the risk of kidney damage or neurological disorders.

Microbial contamination in improperly tested products can cause bacterial or fungal infections on the skin or in the body. Hidden allergens can trigger life-threatening anaphylactic reactions in some individuals. Prolonged use of contaminated supplements or toxic ingredients can harm the liver, kidneys, or digestive system. Finally, we should not underestimate psychological problems and their impact on our personality. Visible damage like burns, discoloration, or hair loss can negatively impact self-esteem and confidence. This can further spiral into health anxiety.

In other words, we should always choose verified products.

Yes. Quality commerce is a revolution. If we don’t buy batch verified products, as I said it can lead to multiple problems. Non-verified beauty and health products may promise quick fixes, but the risks they pose can lead to severe, lasting problems. Choosing batch-verified products ensures you’re protecting your skin, body, and well-being from these avoidable dangers.

How do you establish the credentials of your experts?

At Worthy Cart, we pride ourselves on offering beauty, health, and wellness products that pass our stringent four-step verification process. Our panel of professionals brings a wealth of experience from renowned institutions and organizations, ensuring unmatched rigor and transparency in evaluating every product.

Our experts include dermatologists, microbiologists, nutritionists, Ayurvedic practitioners, and quality control specialists, each with credentials and contributions from reputed institutions.

How is physical verification done at Worthy Cart?

For health products, the physical verification process is tailored to ensure safety, efficacy, and compliance with health standards. Here’s how it works. We do ingredient inspection by carefully reviewing that all components are clearly mentioned, safe, and free from harmful additives. Key ingredients are evaluated for strengths, ensuring they match the product’s claims (e.g., high-quality turmeric in a supplement), minimum quantity for efficacy and claim, comparison with others and price comparison.

In sensory evaluation, the product is inspected for its visual characteristics, such as color and consistency, to ensure no signs of contamination or degradation. Smell and taste are tested to avoid off-putting odors or flavors that might indicate spoilage. A minimum of two people taste products to see the playability.

Dosage assessment is done for uniformity, size, quality, and coating to ensure ease of consumption and accurate dosing.

Powders or liquids are checked for lumpiness, sedimentation, or separation that could compromise effectiveness and stability.

We also ensure a good packaging quality to ensure tamper-proof products. We verify that the packaging supports proper storage conditions, such as it is moisture-resistant or UV-protective.

We check labels for legal requirements and quality of print, readability.

For shelf-life validation, samples are tested for degradation over time to confirm the product remains safe and effective within its stated expiry date. Product certificates of analysis are asked for and checked, products are also sent for testing for certain key ingredients as per need.

We also ensure compliance with regulatory standards, so that each product adheres to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) standards.