Mid-market private equity firm Xponentia Capital, which has backed companies such as dining chain Barbeque Nation, fintech firm Easy Home Finance and clothing brand The Souled Store, has backed a direct-to-consumer brand from its second fund.
Xponentia, which marked the final close of its second fund in December 2023, has invested Rs 75 crore ($9 million) in hair care platform Traya, the consumer company said Tuesday.
VCCircle had first reported about the PE firm’s plans to invest in Traya in November 2023.
“We have grown two-and-a-half times in the last 12 months,” said Saloni Anand, co-founder of Traya. “This funding enables us to further our mission of providing personalised, effective solutions to address the unique hair related needs of each individual.”
Traya Health, founded in 2019 by the husband-wife duo Anand and Altaf Saiyed, provides hair loss treatment and other hair care solutions to consumers. It was launched after Saiyed started suffering from hair loss himself.
The company raised $2.2 million last year in a round led by Fireside Ventures. It also counts Kae Capital and Whiteboard Capital among its existing backers.
Through its tech stack and formulations, Traya offers online diagnosis to its customers along with further care from its team of coaches and doctors. It claims to have helped more than 8 lakh customers so far and has a team consisting of 800 employees.
Xponentia’s other investments from the second fund, which it closed at Rs 1,095 crore exceeding its initial target of Rs 750 crore, include EV maker Altigreen, fintech platform Zype, The Souled Store and education financing startup Auxilo.
The firm makes investments in areas such as financial, business services, healthcare and consumer sectors.
“Saloni and Altaf are building an outstanding business in the hair care category, a space which has enormous growth potential,” said Kannan Sitaram, partner and co-founder at Fireside. “We strongly believe the best is yet to come.”
In the haircare space, Glamlooks Studio Pvt Ltd, Enhance Aesthetic and Cosmetic Studio are among the other companies that have raised funding.
