Direct-to-consumer (D2C) skincare brand Foxtale has raised Rs 5.5 crore ($730,200) in its seed funding round ahead of its entry into the market, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
The capital was raised from early-stage venture capital firm Kae Capital, Kunal Shah, founder of fintech startup Cred, and Rohit M A, co-founder and managing director of single-specialty hospital chain Cloudnine Hospitals, the statement said.
Foxtale, founded in 2020 by Romita Mazumdar, focuses on innovations in formulations and unique ingredient sourcing process to solve the skincare problems of women. Mazumdar is a UCLA graduate and she was an investment banker in San Francisco earlier.
“As an Indian brand, Foxtale aims to solve skincare problems that Indian women are exposed to. We are launching four products by this new year that tackle the effects of climatic conditions and pollution on Indian skin types specifically,” said Mazumdar.
Foxtale said it has spent more than a year in research, product formulations, tests and trials before developing its first range of products. The company has a team in India that includes India’s scientists in the cosmetics space.
“Foxtale is building the first proof of scale to set foot in the market and we are optimistically expecting to reach 1million Indian women in our first year of operation,” added Mazumdar.
Headquartered in Mumbai, the brand is planning on expanding to multiple online outlets to ensure pan-India accessibility for all consumers. Foxtale said that it is confident of giving Indian women the results that women have been long expecting from skincare products.
“The Indian skincare market is growing rapidly with consumers looking for alternatives to existing products. Foxtale is tapping into this $2 billion market with their highly efficacious products,” said Sunitha Viswananthan, partner at Kae Capital.
Founded in 2010, Kae Capital has invested in over 50 companies. In the healthcare space it has bet on epharmacy firm 1mg and AI-based mental health platform Wysa. Its earlier investments include Myntra and InMobi.
Foxtale’s investment adds to Rohit MA’s portfolio of healthtech and consumer companies. Rohit had invested in Clinikk, a Bengaluru-based insure-tech and health-tech startup in November. Rohit had also invested in Mindhouse, another healthtech startup in that same month.
“The most important aspect to any product is the research it is based on and I liked the fact that Romita and her team come with an extensive thesis and couple that with the passion to pursue a successful enterprise creation,” said Rohit MA.
Meanwhile, Kunal Shah has also backed healthcare startups including Mosaic Wellness, Snazzy and Clinikk, among others.