Delh CUNIN, a culture-led lifestyle brand has raised USD 450,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by ALL IN Capital and Huddle Ventures. Built as an answer to the next global consumer brand from India, the fresh capital will be used to accelerate product development, strengthen the team, invest in brand building and expand offline, beginning with the company’s debut category of Fragrance and Carryable Perfume Accessories.
Founded with the belief that the next generation of consumer brands will be built through culture as much as commerce, CUNIN is entering India’s rapidly growing fragrance market with a differentiated approach. Rather than positioning itself as another perfume offering, the company aims to build a global lifestyle brand where products become an extension of identity, community and storytelling.
Speaking on the announcement, Kunal Shukla, Co-Founder & CEO, CUNIN, said, “CUNIN is built as a global cultural IP designed to resonate far beyond India. We are creating for a generation that values self-expression over conformity, where design, language, and everyday objects become powerful tools of self-expression. Our vision is not simply to build products people consume, but to create symbols, stories, and experiences people emotionally connect with and proudly identify with. As a brand, we stand for the opposite. The world constantly tells you to be perfect, mature, and fit into the mold. We tell people to stay IM–Perfect. Stay IM–Mature. In many ways, CUNIN represents that one friend your parents warned you about – the notorious, misunderstood misfit who, in reality, is the only one standing by you when it matters most.”
The founding team brings complementary experience from NEWME, one of India’s fastest-growing fashion brands, where they played key roles across product, merchandising, finance, retail and operations.
Kunal Shukla (26) helped build NEWME from Day Zero, leading product strategy, marketing, partnerships and offline expansion as the company scaled nationally. Prior to NEWME, he built and exited multiple ventures, including a cloud kitchen business and Foodeo, an F&B technology platform incubated by Razorpay Rize.
Amish Bibhu (26) led buying, merchandising and category expansion across fourteen categories, helping shape one of India’s fastest-growing fashion businesses through data-led merchandising and retail execution.
Afsal (27) spent nearly four years building NEWME’s finance and operations infrastructure, creating systems that supported rapid omnichannel growth.
Together, the founders believe that while products may attract consumers, culture is what creates enduring brands.
Unlike conventional fragrance brands that hide behind wardrobe doors, CUNIN introduces Carryable Perfume Accessories, a category designed to be worn, clipped, and seen as an extension of a persona. Exclusively available through brand website cunin.in
Its debut collection also introduces The World of Antonyms, a proprietary creative language that runs across products, packaging and narrative. Instead of traditional floral or destination-based names, CUNIN uses evocative personalities like IM-Perfect, DIS-Loyal, MIS-Placed, and MIS-Aligned, encouraging consumers to wear their identity rather than an aspiration. By reimagining common prefixes into a cultural code, the hyphen becomes far more than punctuation. So, the next time anyone sees a word with an antonym, they will recall CUNIN.
India’s premium fragrance market has witnessed strong momentum over the past few years, driven by rising disposable incomes, increasing premiumisation and a growing base of Gen Z consumers seeking differentiated products. CUNIN believes this shift presents an opportunity to build an original, design-led lifestyle brand that competes through culture and community rather than product alone.
Commenting on the investment, Sanil Sachar, Founding Partner, Huddle Ventures, said: “The next generation of consumer brands will be built through culture as much as commerce. CUNIN understands both. We were impressed by a founding team that combines complementary operating experience with a bold vision to build a culture-first lifestyle brand for Gen Z. We believe they have the potential to create a distinctive global brand from India.”
“Having closely seen the founders execute at one of our portfolio companies, we had strong conviction in their ability to build. In a fast-growing fragrance category where most brands compete on familiar playbooks, CUNIN is taking a differentiated, brand-first approach. Their understanding of Gen Z consumers, combined with a strong creative vision, gives them the potential to build a highly compelling lifestyle business”, added Aditya Singh, Founding Partner, ALL IN Capital.
The company will initially focus on scaling its fragrance portfolio while investing heavily in content, brand experiences and community building. Over time, CUNIN plans to expand into adjacent lifestyle categories, with the long-term ambition of creating a globally recognised lifestyle brand originating from India. In the coming months, the brand will also collaborate with international creators and cultural tastemakers as part of its strategy to strengthen its global footprint and drive cross-border cultural relevance.
For the founders, this funding is not simply validation of a product. It is validation of a larger belief, that culture can become a competitive advantage, language can become intellectual property, and an Indian brand can build global cultural relevance.
Fragrance is simply where that journey begins.
