D2C home appliance startup Nester has raised ₹19 Cr (about $2 Mn) in a Pre-Series A round led by consumer-focused VC firm Fireside Ventures and OTP Ventures, underscoring growing investor interest in India’s fast-expanding household appliances market. The round also saw participation from Sadev Ventures and Titan Capital, alongside existing backers Shezan Bhojani, cofounder of Design Café, and Himanshu Chandra, cofounder of Progcap.
Funding round and investors
Nester’s latest Pre-Series A raise totals ₹19 Cr and values the startup as a high-potential challenger in India’s small home appliance segment, where design, functionality and pricing have become key differentiation levers. While valuation details were not disclosed, the calibre of investors signals strong confidence in Nester’s product roadmap and distribution strategy. The round is led by Fireside Ventures, an early-stage investor known for backing new-age consumer and D2C brands in India, and OTP Ventures, with additional capital from Sadev Ventures and Titan Capital.
Existing angels Shezan Bhojani and Himanshu Chandra have doubled down in this round, suggesting conviction in Nester’s early traction and founder-market fit. Such repeat participation is often interpreted in the ecosystem as a positive signal for future institutional rounds, particularly when paired with established consumer VCs. For Fireside, the bet aligns with its broader thesis around premium, high-utility home and kitchen products aimed at urban, aspirational consumers.
Founder background and company origins
Nester was founded in 2025 by Abhinav Singh, who previously served as chief growth officer at ProGap until 2024, bringing deep experience in scaling consumer-facing businesses and understanding digital growth levers. Singh’s growth and marketing background is central to Nester’s strategy, which blends product innovation with aggressive D2C-led distribution. The company positions itself as a design-forward, functionality-driven Indian brand that aims to simplify everyday chores with thoughtfully engineered appliances.
In a statement, Singh said the fresh capital will be deployed to better understand consumer pain points and to build products with high functionality that simplify routines, chores and homes. This focus on consumer insight and pain-point mapping reflects a shift in India’s appliances market, where buyers increasingly evaluate products on usability, energy efficiency, aesthetics and compactness instead of simply price and brand legacy. Nester’s origin story is built around the idea that there is still white space between low-end mass appliances and high-end global brands, especially in smaller, lifestyle-oriented categories like air fryers, grinders and specialty ovens.
Product portfolio and positioning
Nester currently designs and manufactures homeware appliances such as air fryers, toasters and juicers in India, with a growing focus on multi-functional and space-efficient products. Among its current offerings are steam air fryer ovens, wooden seasoning grinders and aprons, which collectively place the brand at the intersection of utility, lifestyle and kitchen aesthetics. By bundling core appliances with adjunct kitchen accessories, Nester is attempting to build a cohesive ecosystem around modern cooking and food preparation habits.
The emphasis on steam air fryer ovens indicates a push into healthier cooking formats that reduce dependence on deep frying while still delivering crisp textures, a trend particularly popular among urban households and young professionals. Wooden seasoning grinders and aprons, while not appliances, serve as brand-led entry points that can warm customers to Nester’s design language and create upsell opportunities into higher-ticket appliances. This mix of functional hardware and lifestyle-oriented SKUs also helps Nester maintain more frequent consumer touchpoints, supporting repeat purchases and brand recall.
Current distribution and D2C strategy
At present, Nester retails through its own D2C website and Amazon, leveraging the latter’s massive user base and logistics to reach customers beyond metro cities. The D2C website allows the brand to control merchandising, storytelling, bundling and customer data, which is critical for an insights-led product roadmap. Amazon, on the other hand, offers scale, search-led discovery and trust signals via ratings and reviews, which are especially important in a category where performance and durability matter.
Founder Abhinav Singh has indicated that Nester plans to expand into quick commerce platforms and offline retail channels in the near future, broadening its omnichannel footprint. Quick commerce partnerships would place Nester’s smaller appliances and accessories within minutes of consumers in dense urban centres, catering to impulse purchases, gifting and last-minute kitchen upgrades. Offline presence—whether through modern trade, regional chains or shop-in-shop formats—helps in categories where customers often prefer to see, touch and test appliances before purchase.
Manufacturing model and future plans
Currently, Nester relies on contract manufacturing partners to produce its appliances, a common approach for early-stage hardware brands wanting to remain asset-light and flexible. Outsourcing manufacturing allows the startup to focus on design, branding, distribution and customer experience in its initial years, while testing product-market fit across multiple categories. However, as volumes scale, the startup plans to establish its own production facility in the coming months to gain better control over quality, margins and product customization.
Owning a production facility could enable Nester to move faster on iterative design changes, material upgrades and SKU extensions, particularly as it gathers more granular feedback from D2C and marketplace customers. Better control over input costs and quality checkpoints can also be a competitive advantage in a market where after-sales issues, breakdowns and inconsistent performance often drive negative reviews and returns. That said, moving into owned manufacturing will require careful capital allocation, process expertise and likely further fundraising to scale efficiently.
Competitive landscape
Nester operates in a crowded but rapidly segmenting home appliance market, competing with new-age brands like Nuuk, Atomberg, Geek Technology and Wonderchef, while also contending with entrenched legacy players such as Havells and USHA. Nuuk, another emerging brand in the space, recently raised $2 Mn (around ₹17.5 Cr) to expand its product portfolio, reflecting investor appetite for differentiated appliance startups. Meanwhile, Atomberg Technologies, known for its energy-efficient fans and smart appliances, is reportedly preparing for a $200 Mn (around ₹1,790 Cr) IPO, highlighting the scale potential in the category for brands that execute well.
Legacy brands like Havells, USHA and other established appliance majors continue to dominate volumes and distribution, particularly in semi-urban and rural markets where brand familiarity and dealer networks still drive purchasing decisions. However, these incumbents are being challenged in niche and premium sub-categories by nimble D2C players that specialise in smart, compact and multi-functional devices for urban consumers. For Nester, differentiation will likely hinge on a combination of design, performance, pricing, digital brand-building and post-purchase service rather than competing directly on breadth of catalogue alone.
Key peers and signals
Nuuk: Raised $2 Mn (about ₹17.5 Cr) in August last year to broaden its product portfolio in home and kitchen appliances.
Atomberg: Preparing a $200 Mn IPO after surpassing ₹1,000 Cr in revenue, backed by major institutional investors.
Other emerging brands: Smart-kitchen players such as Beyond Appliances and others have also attracted capital to scale R&D and manufacturing, underscoring the attractiveness of small appliances as a growth pocket.
Market context: India’s growing appliance opportunity
India’s household appliances market is on a strong growth trajectory, underpinned by rising disposable incomes, rapid urbanisation and expanding electrification. Industry estimates peg the India household appliances market at around $23.7 Bn in 2025, with projections that it could reach or exceed $30 Bn by 2030, implying a CAGR of roughly 7.2% over the period. Market research indicates that small appliances, in particular, are among the fastest-growing segments, driven by changing lifestyles, nuclear families and time-poor consumers seeking convenience.
Smart and connected appliances are increasingly gaining traction, especially among younger buyers who prefer app-controlled devices, energy monitoring and integration with smart-home ecosystems. The expansion of ecommerce and improved retail infrastructure, combined with the proliferation of quick commerce and hyperlocal delivery, has further lowered the friction around trial and adoption. Government initiatives such as “Make in India” and schemes supporting manufacturing and electronics have also improved the environment for domestic appliance production and backward integration.
Why investors are backing Nester
Investor interest in Nester sits at the intersection of three key themes in the Indian consumer internet and hardware ecosystem. First, the D2C thesis in India has matured from pure-play online brands into omnichannel consumer companies, with appliances emerging as a category where online discovery increasingly influences offline purchase decisions. Second, the small and mid-ticket appliance segment offers repeat purchase potential and strong word-of-mouth dynamics, particularly when products materially improve convenience or health outcomes, such as air fryers or efficient cookers.
Third, there is a broader ecosystem pattern where successful appliance brands have shown a path to large exits and public markets, as seen in Atomberg’s IPO plans and the steady funding momentum for smart kitchen startups. For Fireside Ventures and co-investors, Nester presents an opportunity to back a relatively young brand at an early inflection point, where capital can accelerate product innovation, brand-building and supply-chain control. The founder’s growth background and clear articulation of consumer pain points likely added to the conviction.
Strategic priorities post-fundraise
Post this Pre-Series A round, Nester has outlined a few immediate and medium-term priorities. The first is to deepen consumer insight efforts, using D2C data, feedback loops and user research to refine existing products and identify new sub-categories where pain points remain unaddressed. This could include features like multi-mode cooking presets, energy-efficient heating elements, easier cleaning mechanisms and compact designs for smaller kitchens.
The second priority is to expand its product portfolio beyond current offerings, potentially into adjacent categories within kitchen and small domestic appliances, while maintaining a clear design and functionality-led brand identity. Third, Nester aims to broaden its distribution footprint through quick commerce and offline retail, enabling the brand to reach consumers across different purchase occasions and price points. Finally, investing in its own production facility would allow Nester to strengthen quality control, improve margins and support faster product iteration cycles as it scales.
Outlook
With ₹19 Cr in fresh capital, a seasoned founder and a clear focus on high-functionality, design-led appliances, Nester is positioning itself as a new-age challenger in India’s booming home appliance market. Its success will depend on how effectively it can translate consumer insight into differentiated products, manage the transition from contract manufacturing to in-house production, and build a durable, omnichannel brand in a space dominated by legacy heavyweights. As funding continues to flow into appliance startups—from Nuuk’s recent $2 Mn round to Atomberg’s planned $200 Mn IPO—the segment is poised to remain one of the most closely watched in India’s consumer and hardware ecosystem over the next five years.
