Clean beauty marketplace Vanity Wagon on Friday raised $2 million in a pre-Series A round, led by Agility Ventures Partners and Lotus Herbals Pvt Ltd, the beauty startup said in a release.
The Delhi-based beauty startup also raised funding from Inflection Point Ventures, Venture Catalysts, and some high net-worth individuals (HNIs), bringing its valuation to $8 million.
Vanity Wagon plans to use these funds to cement its market position, strengthen brand building, expand its private label portfolio, and offline retail operations apart from investing in its technology and marketing and sales driven strategies.
“Our vision is to build a sustainable brand in the beauty segment which will be strengthened by this investment. Furthermore, our strategy to go omnichannel, co-own more clean beauty brands, and expand internationally is what a part of this investment will be deployed in. The beauty and e-retail markets are going through an interesting time, where every enterprise is trying to establish a market presence. We are going to continue reinforcing our hold on the clean beauty Market,” said Naina Ruhail, director and chief executive officer at Vanity Wagon.
The beauty platform raised Rs 5.5 crore in a pre-Series A round in October last year, led by Inflection Point Ventures. The funding round also saw participation from Venture Catalysts, Lotus Herbals and Agility Ventures.
The startup has onboarded over 350 brands on its platform, including Dot & Key, Plush, Ikkai, Bubblefarm, Carbon Bae, among others. The brand has onboarded about 15% international brands after its collaboration with five new global brands, it said in a release.
Launched in 2018, Vanity Wagon is a platform selling beauty and wellness products, claiming to offer authentic brand-sourced products. Co-founded by Naina Ruhail, Prateek Ruhail, and Sahil Shrestha, the startup aims to become a Rs 500-crore company in the next two years.
The online beauty and personal care space in India is expected to grow at an annualised rate of 6.32% through 2022-2027, according to a report by researchandmarkets.com. The online beauty and personal care market, on the other hand, is seen growing at an even faster pace with a 60% CAGR between 2016 and 2025, based on research by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
The latest big move in the industry’s expansion was Nykaa’s agreement with Dubai-based Apparel Group to sell its products in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The multi-brand retailer Nykaa plans to expand its international presence with this collaboration as it looks to leverage the UAE-based offline retailer’s market presence to build a distinctive GCC-focused beauty offering.
