Beauty e-commerce portal Nykaa raises funds; founders dilute 20% stake

Mumbai-based FSN E-Commerce Ventures Pvt Ltd that runs Nykaa.com, a beauty e-commerce portal, has raised an undisclosed amount from investors including a big business family and a hedge fund for a 20 per cent stake in the company, according to a report by The Economic Times citing co-founder Falguni Nayar.

The company will use the funds to expand its online business as well as for setting up its first offline retail store at Terminal 3 of New Delhi's airport.

"With this round, we will now grow more aggressively. We are targeting a turnover in excess of Rs 100-120 crore over the next two years," Falguni said.

The startup was founded in 2012 by investment-banker-turned entrepreneur Falguni and her banker husband Sanjay Nayar. The Nayars had invested $2 million in the company and controlled roughly 95 per cent stake in it, while employees held the remaining stake. After the completion of the latest transaction, the family's stake will come down to 75-76 per cent.

Nykaa is a beauty and wellness e-commerce platform that sells branded products across wide categories of makeup, skincare, hair care, fragrances, bath & body and luxury products for women and men. It claims to offer about 200 brands and more than 10,000 products in this category. The portal runs on an inventory-based model and has a warehouse in Mumbai. It has also established strong partnerships with courier companies to offer shipping across more than 900 cities and 9,000 zip codes.

Nykaa competes with Purplle.com which had raised an undisclosed amount in its Series A funding from Blume Ventures, Mumbai Angels and Chennai Angels.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)