Jaipur Will Continue To Be Our Base: Minimalist’s Mohit Yadav After HUL’s INR 3K Cr Acquisition

Fresh off Minimalist’s INR 3,000 Cr sale to Hindustan Unilever (HUL), the D2C brand’s cofounder and CEO Mohit Yadav has said that the company has no intentions of moving its headquarters out of Jaipur. 

Yadav made the comment during the ongoing Rajasthan IT Day 2025 event at the Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur. 

“Jaipur is a beautiful city. There’s hardly any pollution, the travel time from home to office is very short, and it has the charm of a small town with the glam of a metro city. Now, we have a large setup here, I don’t think we will ever move out of Jaipur,” said Yadav during a session moderated by Inc42 cofounder and CEO Vaibhav Vardhan.

Founded in 2020, Minimalist is a D2C skincare brand which recently made headlines after HUL acquired a 90.5% stake in the company for a cash consideration of INR 2,670 Cr at a pre-money enterprise valuation of INR 2,955 Cr. Mohit and his fellow cofounder and brother Rahul Yadav will continue to run Minimalist’s business operations for a period of two years. 

What is interesting is that the siblings managed to grow and scale the company to the mammoth valuation out of Jaipur, a city not the usual choice of founders.

Speaking with Vardhan, Yadav shared that he initially thought the startup would eventually move to a metro city as the business grew. However, he soon realised that Jaipur’s infrastructure was developing in line with the D2C brand’s rapid expansion. 

“The talent pool already existed here, and the professionals we needed were willing to relocate to Jaipur with ease,” added Yadav.

Yadav was joined by listed coworking startup Awfis’ founder and CEO Amit Ramani and Rebel Foods cofounder and CEO Ankush Grover during the chat on the theme ‘Navigating The Startup Ecosystem’. 

Minimalist Cofounder’s Advice For Startup Founders

The CEO of the D2C skincare brand said that founders must know whether raising VC capital is the right decision for their business. Yadav advised against relying on VC funding and suggested that if a company has a strong track record of profitability, bank financing could be a better alternative.

“If you have a track record of profitability, a lot of channels open up, including bank loans that are the lowest cost of capital. Often, people think that raising VC money is a milestone, but if you don’t need it, don’t raise it… If I could have another option to go back and change this, I would have chosen an alternative and not VC money,” added Yadav. 

Minimalist’s net profit zoomed 110% to INR 10.9 Cr in FY24 from INR 5.2 Cr in FY23. The company raised about $15 Mn before the proposed acquisition by HUL.

IPOs No Longer Single Formula For Successful Startup Exits 

Yadav said that while initial public offerings (IPOs) are one of the options for exit, there are plenty of other means available now for startups.

“Though IPOs remain a strong exit option, many companies are now expanding beyond their core businesses and integrating into the broader supply chain. This has opened up opportunities for strategic partnerships, making them a potential exit option for startups beyond just IPOs,” he shared. 

Meanwhile, Awfis’ Ramani shared his insights on optimising the company’s operations for a successful stock market debut. 

“If you want to go public, you will need to ensure government transparency and comply with all regulations from day one. Invest in the right kind of compliance, the right partners, and, most importantly, the right team. You will need to focus on building a strong, dedicated team,” said Ramani. 

This comes at a time when an increasing number of Indian startups are looking to go public. While 13 new-age tech startups went public in 2024, over 20 startups are currently in various stages of their IPO preparations.