Personal care startup Mamaearth raises Rs 130 cr led by Sequoia

Mamaearth, a personal care startup, has raised Rs 130 crore in a funding round led by Sequoia India with participation from existing investors, Fireside Ventures, Stellaris Venture Partners and Sharp Ventures.

The company plans to use the funds over the next three years to continue its growth and build the firm into a Rs 500 crore brand by acquiring 5 million new consumers. The funds will also be used to launch more brands under the Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd (Mamaearth’s parent company). All of these will be internet-first and focused on the needs of the new-age, millennial consumers. Apart from this, the company plans to utilize the funds to hire talent and expand into key markets in Southeast Asia.

Founded in 2016 by husband-wife duo Varun Alagh and Ghazal Alagh, the firm said it is Asia’s first made-safe certified brand that offers 100 per cent toxin-free and natural skincare, hair care and baby care products. The company is building a new range of direct to consumer brands that use the internet-first approach to reach the target audience.

“Our vision is to create the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) conglomerate of the future by building brands that connect strongly with millennials and Gen Z customers using the combined power of digital marketing and e-commerce at large scale,” said Varun Alagh, founder and CEO of Mamaearth. “Sequoia India’s investment at this stage of our journey validates this vision of building a global brand of the future.”

Ishaan Mittal, principal, Sequoia Capital India LLP said that out of India’s $15 billion personal care market, online channels contribute to only 3-5 per cent. 

“With 15-20 per cent of Indian shoppers influenced digitally and expected to double in next 7-8 years, digital-first brands have the potential to redefine the architecture of tomorrow’s FMCG companies,” said Mittal. “Varun’s (Alagh) vision is to ride these market tailwinds to create a multi-brand, cross geo FMCG company over the next decade.”

Mamaearth said some early angels have exited the company in this round with a return of over 20X on their initial investment.

The Gurugram-based firm has launched a range of over 80 natural products and has reached over 1.5 million customers in 500 Indian cities. These products are available across major e-commerce platforms such as  Amazon, Nykaa and Flipkart.

“From day one we have ensured we listen to our consumers and provide products which they were looking for. This led us to develop and launch over 80 products in under three years,” said Ghazal Alagh, co-founder at Mamaearth.