Deepika Padukone’s 82°E Looks To Capitalise On Its Personal Care Portfolio With INR 50 Cr Infusion

D2C personal care startup 82°E is set to raise INR 50 Cr (around $6 Mn) as a part of its extended seed funding round.

The startup’s board has approved allotment of 50 Lakh Seed 2 Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) at an issue price of INR 100 in a meeting held on March 20, its RoC (Registrar of Companies) filing showed.  The development was first reported by Entrackr. 

The round will see Deepika Padukone and her father Prakash Padukone’s investment entity, Ka Enterprises, increase its stake in the startup in one or more tranches. Besides, existing and new investors are also slated to participate in the round which is expected to be completed by June 20. 

82°E aims to use the fresh capital for business requirements of the company. The round will see the company’s promoters, Padukone and cofounder Jigar Shah’s stake increase to 49.03% in the company.

This marks the second fund infusion for the brand after its initial seed funding round of $7.5 Mn in December 2022, which saw DSG Consumer Partners and IDEO Ventures, along with multiple ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNIs) and Padukone’s family office, joining the cap table. 

The brand was founded in 2021 and sells five skincare products – moisturisers, face oil, lip care, cleanser and sunscreen – in the price range of INR 1,200 and INR 2,900, as per the company’s website.  The products are designed and developed in-house at its research and development lab in Bengaluru.

In line with other digitally native D2C brands expansion bid, 82°E also recently entered the offline fray. Earlier this month, it announced that it has partnered with Reliance Retail’s beauty and personal care (BPC) omnichannel brand Tira. The partnership will see the brand’s products adding on to Tira’s offline and online channels. 

The startup’s fundraise comes at a time when investor interest in the BPC space is heating up. While skincare solution startup CHOSEN by Dermatology netted a seed funding of $1.2 Mn last week, Foxtale bagged $14.4 Mn earlier this year. 

This comes at a time when the BPC market is fledgeling with opportunities. According to Inc42’s report, it is slated to reach $5.6 Bn by 2025. In this bustling space, the Deepika Padukone-led startup takes on players like Mamaearth, Plum, FoxTale, among others.