Rotoris Raises $3M Seed Round to Launch Premium Indian Watch Brand Globally

Rotoris, an Indian analog watch startup founded by Aakash Anand of Bella Vita Organic, closed a $3 million seed round co-led by Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, Venture Catalysts, and 100 Unicorns, with the funding reported publicly in December 2025. The round drew a founder-heavy investor list that included actor Vivek Anand Oberoi, comedian and content creator Tanmay Bhat, Mamaearth's Varun Alagh, Noise founder Gaurav Khatri, OfBusiness's Nitin Jain, Shiprocket's Vishesh Khurana, Snitch's Siddharth Dungarwal, and Zypp's Akash Gupta, among more than 30 startup founders in total.

The brand was co-founded by Prerna Gupta, a founding partner at Wolfpack Labs, alongside Anant Narula and Kunal Kapania, cofounders of Drink Free Advertising Media. Its technical direction sits with Harman Wadhwa, described in LinkedIn disclosures as India's only Indian-trained watchmaker with formal Swiss education.

Rotoris's commercial launch was scheduled for January 2026, with five collections named Auriqua, Monarch, Astonia, Arvion, and Manifesta. According to IndianStartupTimes, each watch features sapphire crystal, 316L stainless steel cases, and either automatic or quartz movements, with every model limited and individually numbered. A LinkedIn post from marketing agency In Luxury and Nu Concept Media noted that the brand plans to release just 2,100 individually numbered pieces through an invitation-only access model, though Rotoris has not independently confirmed that specific total through other channels.

The $3 million, equivalent to approximately INR 27 crore according to Inc42, will go toward deepening in-house manufacturing and assembly capabilities, upgrading engineering processes, expanding supply chain partnerships, building initial inventory, and hiring senior talent across product, design, and brand functions. The company also plans to open a flagship Rotoris Experience Store in New Delhi, serving as both a retail and brand showcase space.

Rotoris positions itself as a challenger to global luxury watchmaking, claiming Swiss-grade engineering standards without what it calls the "legacy tax" of established European houses. Vivek Anand Oberoi framed his own investment plainly: "I've collected watches for years, but Rotoris surprised me. It carries the soul of Indian ambition with the finesse of global engineering. That combination is rare. Rotoris is proof that India can build luxury, not just import it."

The brand's credibility case rests substantially on its in-house manufacturing ambitions and Wadhwa's technical background, claims that remain worth independent verification given the watch industry's rigorous standards around movement sourcing and Swiss certification. What is clear from the round itself is that the founders who backed it, people who have built consumer brands from scratch, are betting that India has both the engineering appetite and the aspirational buyer base to support a homegrown luxury watch label at a global scale.