Homegrown skin and hair care direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand Juicy Chemistry has raised $6.3 million in Series A funding round led by Belgium-based investment firm Verlinvest. This is the first institutional fundraising by the company, which plans to use the capital for building its brand and expanding the business.
Juicy Chemistry was founded in 2014 by Megha and Pritesh Asher offering a range of certified organic products across face, body and hair care.
“The investment will enable Juicy Chemistry to further strengthen its position as a leader in the clean and organic beauty segment. We are keen to leverage this capital for the rapid expansion of Juicy Chemistry’s e-commerce platform and omnichannel distribution capabilities, to reach new and existing geographies, to hire talent, for brand building, and to cater to the increasing demand for products both domestically and in the international market,” said Pritesh Asher, co-founder and chief executive officer of Juicy Chemistry.
Bootstrapped until 2019, the firm raised an angel round $650, 000 from Amit Nanavati. The company claimed that it has witnessed 300% jump in revenues for this fiscal year with a growing customer base. It competes with brands such as MyGlamm, Sugar Cosmetics, Plum, Purplle, Nykaa and Mama Earth, which also operate in the direct-to-consumer space.
“We are excited to start our journey with Juicy Chemistry, which forms part of our global effort in backing unique digital-first beauty brands for the long term. Verlinvest looks for authentic and passionate entrepreneurs who are creating a consumer revolution using their product and brand stories, and we saw like-mindedness with the way Pritesh and Megha are building their business,” said Arjun Anand, executive director, Verlinvest.
A private Belgian family investment firm, Verlinvest’s current Indian portfolio includes both online and offline brands such as Byju’s, Sula Vineyards, Epigamia, Veeba Foods, Purplle.com, Wakefit and Future Consumer Ltd.
It is to be noted that D2C brands, especially in the beauty and personal care segment, have witnessed significant interest from investors in the last few months. Last month, Sugar Cosmetics closed its Series C funding round, having raised $21 million overall led by Elevation Capital (previously SAIF Partners) along with existing investors A91 Partners, India Quotient and RB Investments. In November 2020, Pureplay Skin Sciences (India) Pvt. Ltd, which sells D2C skin and hair care brands Plum and Phy, has raised Rs110 crore in Series B funding round from investors led by venture capital firm Faering Capital.
