Make-up brand SUGAR Cosmetics, which is backed by venture capital firm A91 Partners, has raised $2 million (Rs 14.6 crore) in debt led by venture debt firm Stride Ventures.
Stride Ventures said in a statement that it partnered with a major private-sector bank on this deal. The venture debt firm is committed to being a strategic partner in SUGAR Cosmetics’s growth journey, it added.
Vineeta Singh, co-founder and CEO, SUGAR Cosmetics, said the debt capital is part of the first tranche of its Series C funding round that is likely to close later this year.
SUGAR Cosmetics was founded by Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee, both Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad graduates, in 2012. The company offers a range from make-up products and everyday skincare products. It has online as well as offline presence across 2,400 outlets in over 130 cities.
The cosmetics brand, operated by Vellvette Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd, had seed funding from early-stage venture capital firm India Quotient in 2013, according to VCCEdge, the research arm of Mosaic Digital. In 2017, Singapore-based RB Investments came as a new investor, followed by A91 Partners last year.
The statement said the company’s revenue jumped six times in two years. It clocked net sales of Rs 105 crore in the year through March 2020. In the previous year, it had recorded net sales of Rs 57.14 crore.
Ishpreet Gandhi, founder and managing partner at Stride Ventures, said SUGAR has managed to stand apart in a short span of time in a fiercely competitive landscape.
“Their branding, market strategy and offering of affordable premium products greatly appeal to the growing younger demographic,” he added.
Stride Ventures also said that this is its tenth investment from its maiden fund. The firm had marked the first close of its debut venture debt fund at Rs 100 crore ($14 million) in December last year.
Stride’s first investment was in Stellapps Technologies Pvt. Ltd, an Internet of Things firm which operates in the dairy segment. Earlier this month, it led a pre-Series B round of funding in robotics startup Miko.
The venture debt firm’s other recent bets include interior design startup HomeLane, B2B marketplace Bulk MRO and used two-wheeler marketplace CredR.
