Personal care brand Mamaearth has raised $50 million from European investment firm Sofina Ventures SA and Sequoia Capital.
The round also saw secondary sale by early investors like Fireside Ventures, Stellaris Venture Partners, Sharp Ventures and Titan Capital.
Mamaearth also plans to deploy the funds to drive brand growth through aggressively expanding their offline distribution and explore inorganic growth opportunities in beauty and personal care.
The round also gave some early employees an opportunity to monetise their vested ESOP, the company said.
"With a vision to become a house of brands, the company is currently focusing on creating brands with millennial propositions with an internet-first approach.
This round will help amplify the process and strengthen the D2C and offline expansion of Mamaearth, along with further accelerating the growth of The Derma Co. which is already showing early signs of success, since its launch in 2020, " Varun Alagh, co-founder and CEO, Mamaearth, said.
“We will also be exploring inorganic growth opportunities in the beauty and personal care segment,” Alagh said.
According to regulatory filings, Sofina has led this round with $27 million in funding.
In April, VCCircle was the first to report that Mamaearth, operated by Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd, was in talks with Sofina to facilitate exits for Fireside Ventures and Stellaris Venture Partners.
The startup was founded in 2016 by the husband-wife duo Varun and Ghazal Alagh. Its portfolio includes body lotions, rash creams, shampoos, body wash, massage oils and baby care products.
“Our company is built on the proposition to solve problems for the millennials by addressing their concerns through safe and effective products. With a toxin-free and natural ingredient proposition, we started Mamaearth in 2016 with our baby care range and soon, on consumer demand, diversified into personal care," Ghazal Alagh, Co-Founder and CIO, Mamaearth said.
Mamaearth launched The Derma Co to target the other end of the spectrum of millenials, Alagh said.
The company now has a portfolio of 140 products under Mamaearth and 40+ products under The Derma Co., Alagh said.
“The recent round that we closed will further provide impetus to our innovation funnel and help us serve our consumers with a wider assortment of products” she added.
“The Mamaearth team is constantly pushing the boundaries in the personal care space through their disruptive innovations, rapid execution pace and focus on delighting customers,” Yana Kachurina, Investment Manager, Sofina Ventures SA, said.
The broader beauty and personal care segment has seen multiple investments this year.
In June, Marico, which sells Parachute hair oil and Saffola cooking oil, picked up a majority stake in a D2C personal care brand. Earlier this year, private equity firm ChrysCapital acquired a stake in Wow Skin Science.
