Gurugram-based fragrance brand FIFTH SENSE has raised ₹6.3 crore in a pre-seed funding round led by OTP Ventures, with participation from Sadev Ventures, ISV Capital, and angel investors including Swiggy CEO Rohit Kapoor and StayVista co-founder Amit Damani.
The fresh capital will be used to expand its product portfolio, invest in content-led brand building, and strengthen supply chain and distribution capabilities.
Instead of presenting fragrance as a technical or luxury-first category, FIFTH SENSE says it wants to build what it describes as India’s first emotion-led fragrance ecosystem.
The idea is to make scent feel less like an occasional indulgence and more like a form of everyday self-expression for a younger consumer base.
The startup was founded by IIM Kozhikode alumni Bharat Gupta and Prateek Gupta, who say the brand emerged from a personal gap they saw in the Indian market. Their bet is that fragrance discovery can be made more intuitive if consumers are invited to choose scents based on who they relate to, or how they want to feel, rather than being asked to decode ingredients, notes, and formulations.
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Bharat Gupta, CEO and co-founder, frames the brand’s philosophy around nuance. In the company’s words, fragrance should not be reduced to a list of ingredients alone. Instead, FIFTH SENSE wants its products to function as a storytelling medium, with scents crafted around the idea of “who you want to be today.” That is a notable shift in a category where product communication is often dominated by technical descriptors or aspirational luxury imagery.
The company has launched with four fragrances: The Boyfriend Shirt, The Chosen One, Still Here, and The Athlete In You. Each one, the brand says, is designed to evoke a distinct emotional state and personal narrative instead of being introduced through a traditional olfactory profile.
The products have been developed with independent perfumers using globally sourced ingredients and are formulated with 25%+ oil concentration, which the company says is intended to perform effectively in Indian weather conditions.
That product framing also reflects the founders’ attempt to make the category more approachable. Prateek Gupta says the brand wants fragrances to feel relatable and uncomplicated, while creating a community that embraces life’s imperfections instead of selling a polished ideal.
In an increasingly crowded direct-to-consumer landscape, that language suggests FIFTH SENSE is trying to build not just a product label, but a recognisable emotional universe around the brand.
The company’s timing is also important. As outlined in the material shared by the brand, the Indian fragrance market is growing quickly, but remains largely split between functional, price-led products on one side and legacy ultra-luxury offerings on the other.
FIFTH SENSE is trying to position itself somewhere in between, aiming to create a differentiated space where fragrance is treated as an extension of personal identity rather than something reserved for special occasions. The brand’s messaging also leans into the idea of consumers switching scents depending on mood and even layering fragrances to create something more individual.
For investors, the appeal appears to lie in that clear positioning. OTP Ventures founder and managing partner Kunal Suri said the opportunity lies in building an aspirational, youth-focused fragrance brand in India. He also pointed to the founders’ product thoughtfulness and the way each SKU is being curated with its own identity and backstory.
Beauty and personal care startups in India have increasingly moved beyond utility-led selling, and brands today are often built as much through narrative, design, and community as through the product itself.
The question now is whether the theory is scalable because it depends on implementation. However, for now, it’s safe to say that the company has already made their first move. The company is not selling the perfume as mere fragrance, but rather as a personality.
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