D2C Beauty Startup RAS Bags Funding To Strengthen Its Farm-To-Face Product Play

RAS, the Indian farm-to-face skincare and personal, D2C hygiene startup has raised $1.5 Mn from Green Frontier Capital (GFC). The funding round also saw participation from its existing investors. 

Based in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, RAS was founded by Sangeeta Jain and her two daughters Suramya Jain and Subhika Jain in 2017. The startup claims to make cosmetics and personal care products from natural ingredients. 

Last year, in May, it raised $2 Mn from Sixth Sense Ventures.

Commenting on the fundraise, Suramya Jain said, “Our ingredients are cultivated organically in our own farms and/or acquired from local farmers and manufacturers who are well regarded for purity and freshness. The ingredients are researched and formulated in our in-house DSIR-approved R&D facility and manufactured in our government-approved facility followed by packing and timely dispatch to our customers.”

RAS claims to be growing at a pace of 300% year-on-year since its inception. 

It aims to use the fresh funds to bring innovation in its product offerings and is planning expansion across the Indian market. Intending to penetrate deeper into the Indian beauty and personal care industry, the startup is on a hiring spree. It is increasing its workforce in its offices both in Raipur and Mumbai. 

Further, RAS is building various touch points throughout India via omnichannel format, and is strengthening its brand presence by partnering with relevant channels. The beauty startup retails through different ecommerce platforms such as Nykaa, Amazon, Blinkit, Flipkart, etc along with its own D2C website. 

The country’s beauty and personal care market has got a new player in the form of Reliance’s Tira. Tira was launched last week and has been speculated to pose a threat to existing brands like Nykaa, Purplle in India. 

Talking about Nykaa, it witnessed its consolidated net profit declining 71% in the last quarter. 

Weeks back, content-to-commerce unicorn The Good Glamm Group partnered with actor Akshay Kumar to launch a D2C personal care brand for men.

Last year, Purplle bagged the unicorn title after raising a $33 Mn Series E funding round. Further, we also have reported about skincare startup Foxtale raising $4 Mn and WOW Skin Science’s $48.02 Mn fundraise.

However, the industry also started witnessing a downward graph with the freezing funding towards the end of FY22. Yet, the space has witnessed actors and celebrities investing in the beauty and personal care startups. Towards the end of 2022, Ranveer Singh invested in SUGAR Cosmetics, while Rashmika Mandanna backed the D2C company Plum.

A study by Research and Markets found that the Indian beauty and personal care market is expected to reach $33.33 Bn by 2027.