Ranveer Singh Backs D2C Beauty Startup SUGAR Cosmetics

SUMMARY

Bringing Ranveer Singh on board resonates with the brand’s ideology, implied SUGAR Cosmetics cofounder Vineeta Singh

SUGAR has an omnichannel presence and has opened over 45K retail outlets across 550+ cities in India

The startup is valued at nearly $500 Mn after raising $50 Mn in its Series D round in May 2022

Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh has invested in homegrown beauty company Sugar Cosmetics at the heels of its $50 Mn Series D raise.

Besides being on board as an investor, Singh will also be the company’s brand ambassador, creating new strategies for customer acquisition, particularly with GenZ and millennials, the company said in a statement.

This marks Ranveer’s first investment in the startup ecosystem. He joins the likes of Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Nora Fatehi, Anushka Sharma, Virat Kohli and more celebrities investing in the startup ecosystem.

Founded in 2015 by Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee, SUGAR offers beauty products for lips, eyes, nails and skin and started its journey as a D2C brand. With time and due to D2C’s nascency, it adopted an omnichannel strategy in 2017. It currently partners with modern and general stores across the country and has also opened over 45K retail outlets across 550+ cities in India.

With its online and offline presence, SUGAR claims to have clocked annual sales of more than INR 550 Cr and quadrupled its sales over the past three years. In FY21, the startup reported a revenue of INR 127.8 Cr and a loss of INR 21 Cr.

SUGAR Cosmetics has been very open about its customer engagement tactics and relies heavily on influencer marketing and the hype it creates on social media. Its Instagram account has over 2.3 Mn followers, with a lot of posts on how influencers have used the SUGAR products. Cofounder Mukherjee has previously stated that its social media presence caters to mostly educating women on makeup, engaging via useful content than giving offers and promos.

Bringing Ranveer Singh on board resonates with the brand’s ideology, implied cofounder Vineeta Singh adding that Ranveer’s personality of being bold, quirky and vibrant [something that SUGAR positions itself as] makes the partnership a natural fit.

The startup, valued at nearly $500 Mn, counts L Catterton, A91 Partners, Elevation Capital, India Quotient and many more as its investors.

It competes for a place in the $300 Bn worth of D2C opportunity with the likes of Mamaearth, WOW Skin Science, Nykaa, and more.