Bhubaneswar: Swagata Sarangi, co-founder of Smytten, India’s largest online platform for premium product discovery and trial, is now part of the elite BW Businessworld 40 under 40 Club of Achievers.
“I am pleased to inform you, that the BW Disrupt 40 Under 40 Awards Jury Panel has selected you as one of the winners for your outstanding achievements and the potential you display for future success. I would like to extend my compliments to you on the much deserved mention in our prestigious BW Disrupt 40 Under 40 2022 list,” read an email from Nitish Rampal, Business Manager & IP Head, BW Disrupt.
40 Under 40 is a quest for the most influential leaders of the year. Organized by BW Disrupt, it is a hunt for the top 40 brightest young entrepreneurs, innovators and game changers under the age of 40.
Swagata is currently the co-founder of Smytten, India’s largest online platform for premium product discovery and trial. Unlike other online commerce platforms, Smytten focuses more on the pre-purchase experience of online shoppers, helping them to first try the product in the comfort of their home at a very minimal or no cost through its unique try-buy-try model.
Before taking the entrepreneurial plunge in 2015, Swagata was heading business marketing at Google where he was deeply embedded into the Indian internet and digital ecosystem.
During his stint with Google he spearheaded many large scale ecosystem shaping initiatives like Great Online Shopping Festival, Get India Business Online, YouTube Fanfest, Helping Women Get Online to name a few. Prior to that he worked with McKinsey & Company as a consultant engaging with many clients across consumer durables, oil & gas sector.
Prior to McKinsey, Swagata had worked with Unilever India where he led relationships with many global giants like Wal-Mart, Tesco for their India entry and business partnerships with Unilever.
Swagata completed his schooling from 10 different Odia medium schools across Odisha and topped the 10th Odisha board HSC Examination. He pursued his 10+2 intermediate college studies in Khallikote Junior College, Berhampur and secured 6th rank in Odisha +2 Science CHSE examination.
He then joined Birla Institute of Science & Technology, Pilani to complete his graduation in engineering and worked with companies like Oracle, Schlumberger before heading to Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad for his MBA.
Swagata graduated from ISB in 2008 and was a recipient of ISB torch bearers award for his significant contribution towards academic activities of the school and his work as the elected president of one of the professional clubs.
Talking about the genesis of the idea to the conviction of building a business around it, Swagata Sarangi, Co-Founder, Smytten, says, “The brand ecosystem has been completely democratised over the last few years opening many more options for the consumers. Consumer expectations of an engagement with the brand has gone up significantly and moved beyond just pure information. Any new product/brand consumers expect to try it first before buying, not to save money, but more to ensure that the product is meant for them and delivering on its promise.”
“More than 600 brands have joined us in our journey, as we have helped them engage deeply with the right audience through sampling and trials. They have realised huge efficiencies in terms of their customer acquisition cost and consumer engagement metrics through our platform. For us, delivering the right content and experience on behalf of our brand partners in pre-purchase phase is the key priority.”
With more than 10 million users from the high earning audience segment today, Smytten hosts 900+ brand partners on its platform across lifestyle categories. Ranging from fragrances, beauty & makeup, male grooming, food & beverages, baby & mother care and wellness products the startup offers product samples to consumers across many categories to help them make the right purchase decisions.
It has sampled more than 5000 products across categories on the platform and delivers millions samples per year at the consumer’s doorstep. It’s a very unique business model which hasn’t been done before in India or globally for that matter.
