Mumbai-based FSN E-Commerce Ventures Pvt Ltd, owner of beauty products e-commerce property Nykaa.com, has secured Rs 60 crore ($9 million) in its second institutional funding round led by private equity firm TVS Capital, according to a press release.
Other investors that participated in this latest round of funding included Techpro Ventures, the family office of Atul Nishar (former Hexaware promoter), family office of Harsh Mariwala (Marico's chairman), former Warburg Pincus top executive Dalip Pathak in his personal capacity and former president of Givaudan Fragrances, Michael Carlos.
Almost 30 per cent of the fresh capital has come from the existing investors that had invested in Series A round of funding. Last year, Nykaa had raised around $3.4 million from family offices and high net-worth individuals.
The company will use the money from the latest round of funding towards market expansion, hiring new talent and aligning its marketing strategies. Over the coming year Nykaa plans to increase its gross merchandise value (GMV) five times.
As part of its omni-channel strategy, the company is looking to open physical stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, with a focus on locations with higher footfall like malls.
“We greatly value the confidence our investors have reposed in our strategy and our commitment to building a sustainable online beauty and wellness business,†Falguni Nayar, founder and CEO, Nykaa, said.
Narayan Ramachandran, former country head of Morgan Stanley-India, will join Nykaa's board as TVS Capital’s nominee.
The startup was founded in 2012 by investment-banker-turned entrepreneur Falguni Nayar, former MD at Kotak Mahindra Capital, and her husband Sanjay Nayar, CEO at KKR India.
Nykaa is a beauty and wellness e-commerce platform that sells branded products across categories of makeup, skincare, hair care, fragrances, bath & body and luxury products for women and men.
It claims to offer about 350 brands, 35,000 products and serves more than 175,000 customers. The portal runs on an inventory-based model and has a warehouse in Mumbai. It has partnerships with courier companies to offer shipping across more than 900 cities across the country.
To date, Nykaa claims to have sold 1.25 million products, with over 4 million visitors to the site every month.
Nykaa competes with Purplle.com besides both large horizontal e-commerce players like Amazon, Flipkart, and Snapdeal in addition to lifestyle e-tailers such as Myntra and Jabong.