Exclusive: Wipro Consumer’s venture capital arm gets off the mark with investment in Happily Unmarried

Wipro Consumer Care - Ventures (WCCV), the corporate venture capital arm of Bengaluru-based FMCG firm Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting, has closed its first deal with a Rs 4 crore or a little over $500,000 investment in Happily Unmarried Marketing, the company that retails personal care products Happily Unmarried and Ustraa. 

Sumit Keshan, managing partner at WCCV, confirmed the investment to TechCircle.

The investment is part of a new funding round that includes Info Edge, promoter of recruitment portal Naukri. Delhi-based Info Edge had informed stock exchanges earlier this month that it was buying 1,244 optionally convertible cumulative redeemable preference shares in Happily Unmarried for Rs 6 crore (a little over $800,000).

While Info Edge is a returning investor in this round, WCCV is technically a new investor. In November 2017, WCCV’s parent, Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting, had teamed up with Info Edge to invest an undisclosed sum in the Delhi-based Happily Unmarried. Subsequent to the latest infusion, Happily Unmarried becomes a part of WCCV. 

Info Edge entered the startup in 2012 with a Rs 5 crore investment that valued it at Rs 20 crore. Following subsequent investment rounds, Info Edge’s total exposure to Happily Unmarried, including the latest infusion, currently stands at $4.72 million, according to data compiled by VCCEdge. It owns a 42.33% stake in the startup on a fully converted and diluted basis.

Speaking on the investment, Keshan said the startup will use the fresh capital to expand to more geographies and leverage its early mover advantage in what he terms a large but untapped market.

Founded in 2007 by Rahul Anand and Rajat Tuli, both alumni of Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad, Happily Unmarried offers personal care products ranging from face and body washes to shaving foam and cologne. While products under the Happily Unmarried brand cater to both genders, the Ustraa line of products exclusively targets men.

Though the company uses a hybrid sales model, most of its revenues come from online channels including its own ecommerce portal and marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart.

WCCV launched a Rs 200 crore ($28 million) maiden fund in September this year and plans to invest in startups that leverage digital, ecommerce and other channels to sell products in the consumer goods space. The firm will typically invest anywhere between Rs 10 crore and Rs 40 crore in a startup in lieu of a minority stake that would not exceed 30%. It intends to have its current corpus deployed within the next 18-24 months, Keshan had said in an earlier interview with TechCircle.