Beauty products etailer MSM Box raises seed funding

Delhi-based MSM Box, a curated platform that offers beauty products on a subscription model, has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from angel investor Rohit Goel.

World One Retail Pvt Ltd, which runs MSM Box, will use the money to ramp up its technology infrastructure, scale product development and support overall expansion plans, as per a press statement.

"This is a largely untapped segment and we plan to focus our efforts on reaching a wider customer base, scaling up operations and enhancing  our digital content," said Bindu Sharma, managing director and co-founder, MSM Box.

The company started in 2012 as a beauty blog. In 2014, it added an e-commerce platform that allows users to buy and try beauty brands. It launched MSM Box, a subscription-based monthly kit that contains beauty, grooming and lifestyle products from new and established brands.

Rohit Goel, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus and a serial entrepreneur, has invested in about 10 online startups since 2009. His portfolio companies include Indianbeautifulart (handicraft), Rustic Town (leather bags), RealtoExpress (cloud-based real estate CRM), Data Resolve (cloud-based endpoint security software) and E-wayz (cloud-based mutual funds distribution software).

MSM Box, which would compete with the likes of FabBag, Nykaa and Purplle, aims to have 200,000 subscribers by the current year-end.

As per industry estimates, the beauty services market in India is worth $4.8 billion.