VLCC, one of the largest homegrown beauty and wellness companies in India, has acquired Vanity Cube to leverage the rapidly growing space of on-demand beauty services, a segment that has caught the interest of FMCG as well as e-tailors from around the world, said people aware of the development.
This is the second acquisition by the Delhi based company in the last few weeks after scooping up direct-selling dietary supplements and nutraceuticals maker WellScience Health that was promoted by Lajinder Bawa, former CEO of the Indian arm of Swedish cosmetics maker Oriflame.
Vanity Cube, a flourishing two-year-old startup has to-date served over 50,000 customers in Delhi and Mumbai, with around 60% customers availing a repeat order within 45 days of the first service. Vanity Cube is one of the earliest entrants in the on-demand beauty space and currently operates in Delhi NCR and Mumbai region.
Last year, it raised $300,000 in an early stage round from Unicorn Ventures, friends and family. The two founders — Renu Bisht and Pragya Upadhyay — wanted to use the funds for developing technology, marketing initiatives, and expansion. “Customers are now beginning to see the value and therefore the ticket price, as well as acceptance of the service, is increasing,” said a person familiar with Vanity Cube.
Pragya Upadhyay, co-founder Vanity Cube declined to comment on the transaction as did a VLCC spokesperson. The entire acquisition, integration and category development cost for the company will be around Rs 100 crore. The exact deal size could not be independently verified.
“VLCC will be able to rapidly scale-up these services. There is currently no clear market leader in the on-demand beauty services space. The plan is to expand the reach of these services to 10 cities in the next 18 months,” said sources close to the development. VLCC currently operates 330 wellness centres and salons across 102 cities in India and across Asia. Larger players like VLCC are following several of the FMCG peers like Godrej and Marico, trying to break into the dynamic and fast-growing beauty & wellness services and products market through niche Bolton buyouts of startups or consumer internet companies present in the space.
The organised on-demand beauty services market has gained traction in the last couple of years, with numerous start-ups, and is pegged in excess of Rs 15,000 crore. The industry in India is growing at a compounded rate of 18.6%, fuelled by affluent and middle-class consumers.
Industry experts believe the traditional salon industry is ripe for disruption. Last year, Vyomo, an aggregator of beauty salon doorstep services funded by cricketer Yuvraj Singh, was acquired by the salon chain Naturals for Rs 100 crore for a controlling stake. VLCC’s on-demand beauty services are seen as a progression for the company with 60% of its accruing from beauty treatments and services.
This development comes soon after Amazon recently launching beauty services allowing its users order and schedule in-home beauty services in select pin codes in Bangalore.
Source: Economic Times