Delhi-based men’s grooming products startup Bombay Shaving Company has raised Rs 15 crore ($2.3 million) in a pre-Series A round of funding led by early-stage fund Fireside Ventures, the co-founder of the firm told VCCircle.
A group of high net worth individuals, including S Ramadorai, former chief executive of IT services firm TCS, also participated in the round, Shantanu Deshpande, co-founder and CEO of the firm said.
The firm will use the funds to launch new products and to expand offline, Deshpande said.
The startup was launched last year by former McKinsey executives Deshpande and Deepu Panicker along with Raunak Munot and Rohit Jaiswal, who were previously with advertising company GroupM.
Visage Lines Personal Care Pvt Ltd, which runs Bombay Shaving Company, has positioned itself as a luxury brand and sells its products through a subscription model. Apart from selling products on their own website, Bombay Shaving Company retails on e-commerce marketplaces like Flipkart and Amazon. The company competes with Delhi-based Helios Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd, which runs the Man Co., an e-commerce site for men’s grooming products.
In August 2016, the company had raised Rs 4 crore (nearly $600,000) in a seed round funding from a group of angel investors, including McKinsey India managing director Noshir Kaka.
Other subscription-based e-commerce companies include Fab Bag and Enchantess, which provide beauty, makeup and grooming products for women and men.
In March this year, Marico Ltd, the maker of Parachute hair oil and Saffola cooking oil, forayed into the male grooming market by picking up a 45% stake in Zed Lifestyle Pvt Ltd, which owns Beardo.