Homegrown beauty brand RENEE Cosmetics has raised $10 million (Rs 75 crore) in its Series A round of funding led by Thrasio-styled venture Mensa Brands.
The round also witnessed participation from the existing investors including Equanimity Ventures and 9Unicorns.
This is one of those rare investments where Mensa Brands has co-invested with other venture capital funds. Usually, the Ananth Narayanan-led entity vies for majority stake in any startup and have added over dozen startups till date.
“We have achieved 400% growth this quarter and have set ambitious targets for the brand going forward. This year, we are going to focus on expanding our product catalogue, marketing and increasing our offline presence across the country, said Priyank Shah, co-founder at RENEE Cosmetics.
Founded by Shah, Ashutosh Valani and Aashka Goradia, the cosmetic startup claims to create a range of cruelty-free and vegan products in the beauty and cosmetics segment. The trio previously founded male grooming brand Beardo, which was acquired by FMCG major Marico Ltd.
The brand offers eye makeup, lip colours, skin serums and highlighters among other items. It has currently portfolio of about 30 products across 3 categories. Besides digital marketplaces, the startup has presence across 500 offline outlets.
"As the colour cosmetics segment rapidly grows over the next few years, I believe that RENEE Cosmetics will emerge as a category leader owing to its innovative products and strong founding team,” said Ananth Narayanan, founder & CEO at Mensa Brands.
Fundraises in the broader beauty and personal care segment have also risen over the last few months.
While unicorn Good Glamm Group, which is on acquisition spree, bought out Organic Harvest in its latest transaction, Lotus Herbals picked up minority stake in D2C beauty brand Conscious Chemist.
VCCircle had reported that skincare wellness brand WOW Skin Science, backed by ChrysCapital, was in talks to raise $50 million at a valuation of nearly $400 million. Another cosmetics brand SUGAR, operated by Vellvette Lifestyle Pvt Ltd, was eyeing to raise $60 million at a valuation of $500 million, VCCircle had reported.
Purplle had not only recently secured $34 million from a Sequoia affiliate, but also recently bought cosmetics and skincare brand, Faces Canada, which was previously owned by Sequoia Capital India and run by a management team. Sequoia Capital, meanwhile, recently invested in another personal care company Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd, which owns brands like Mamaearth and The Derma Co, at unicorn valuation.
