Indian D2C beauty and personal hygiene startup, RAS, has raised $1.5m in a funding round led by Green Frontier Capital. RAS, which was founded in 2017, claims to make cosmetics and personal care products from natural ingredients. It will use the funds to innovate its product offerings and expand into new markets in India. RAS also plans to hire more staff to increase its workforce at its offices in Raipur and Mumbai. The beauty start-up retails through different ecommerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, Blinkit, and its own D2C website.
The Indian beauty and personal care market is expected to reach $33.33bn by 2027, according to a study by Research and Markets. The Good Glamm Group, a content-to-commerce startup, recently partnered with actor Akshay Kumar to launch a D2C personal care brand for men. Last year, Purplle, an Indian beauty and personal care e-commerce platform, achieved unicorn status after raising a $33 million Series E funding round. In addition, skincare startup Foxtale raised $4 million, and WOW Skin Science raised $48.02 million in funding. It is not uncommon for industries to experience a cyclic trend in funding, and the beauty and personal care industry is no exception. While the end of FY22 saw a freeze in funding, the industry has still managed to attract investments from notable actors and celebrities. Ranveer Singh invested in SUGAR Cosmetics, and Rashmika Mandanna backed D2C company Plum towards the end of 2022.