Wipro Consumer Care Ventures backs grooming product startup LetsShave

Chandigarh-based LetsShave, which owns an eponymous platform for personal care products, has raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round from Wipro Consumer Care Ventures, a statement said.

Post investment, the venture capital fund of Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting will hold a minority stake in LetsVenture.

The company will use the funds to foray into newer channels, expand its product portfolio and invest in technology to scale up faster, Sumit Keshan, managing partner of Wipro Consumer Care Ventures, said. 

Founded in 2015 by Siddharth Oberoi, the platform sells shaving and grooming products such as razors, shampoos and gels for both men and women under its own brand name.

It has a customer base of over five crore, a portfolio of more than twenty products and is an exclusive distributor for Korean razor manufacturer Dorco in India, Keshan said. 

In 2018, Dorco, in its maiden investment in an Indian startup, acquired a 10% stake in LetsShave to expand its product portfolio, according to information on VCCEdge.

“We have a strong presence and received unprecedented acceptance for our products from our consumers. Wipro Consumer Care is an established industry player globally having deep insights into the consumer diaspora in India, and we would like to leverage their expertise to chart a strong growth trajectory,” Oberoi said.

“Our investment in LetsShave is in line with our strategy of leveraging emerging online opportunities targeting the millennials. We plan to increase our portfolio in innovative startups in consumer brands and consumer-tech domains both in India and southeast Asia,” Keshan said.

This is Wipro Consumer Care’s second investment in a personal care startup. In November last year, it infused $500,000 in Happily Unmarried Marketing, which owns grooming brands Happily Unmarried and Ustraa. The startup is also supported by Naukri's parent Info Edge India.

The country's male grooming market is valued at over $1.5 billion and is expected to double in the next three years, as per the investors' estimates.

Wipro Consumer Care Ventures, which has $28 million at its disposal, was formed at the end of last year by Wipro Enterprises to invest in startups in the consumer brands space. 

Read: We want to enable, not throttle startup innovation: Sumit Keshan

Apart from Ustraa, LetsShave's peers include The Man Company, Bombay Shaving Company and Beardo.

The Man Company, owned by Helios Lifestyle with actor Ayushmann Khurrana as its brand ambassador, has Emami and several angels as its investors.

Visage Lines Personal Care, which owns Bombay Shaving Company, is backed by investors including FMCG major Colgate Palmolive, venture capital firm Fireside Ventures and Sixth Sense Ventures. Last year, the company raised $6.5 million in a Series B round, multiple media reports said.