Nykaa To Acquire Digital Content Platform ‘Little Black Book’ To Drive Customer Engagement

Beauty ecommerce platform Nykaa on Friday (August 5) said it received its board’s approval to acquire digital content platform Little Black Book (LBB) in an all-cash deal.

The listed startup did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. The deal, which is subject to various regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed within 60 days.

“…we hereby inform you that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting…has approved the acquisition of 100% of the fully diluted share capital of lluminar Media Private Limited (known as ‘ Little Black Book’),” Nykaa said in a regulatory filing. 

The acquisition will enable Nykaa to leverage LBB ‘s brand discovery and content delivery platform. The move will also help Nykaa use LBB’s creator network to drive consumer engagement and retention and to further scale operations. It will also complement the beauty ecommerce platform’s curation-led offerings and discovery-led shopping experience. 

“We are excited about the strong synergies we share with LBB, because much like Nykaa, they have sharply focused on driving discovery and spotlighting promising homegrown brands across their channels since day one,” a Nykaa spokesperson said.

Founded in 2015 by Suchita Salwan and Dhruv Mathur, LBB began as a local discovery platform and then ventured into the social commerce space. It operates at the intersection of content, commerce and community, and offers products ranging from footwear to snacks. The startup is largely targeted at urban millennials and claims to reach more than 70 Mn users via their various channels. 

According to the regulatory filing, LBB had a turnover of INR 19.44 Cr in the financial year 2021-22, up from  INR 9.12 Cr in FY21. 

The acquisition comes on the same day as Nykaa announced its quarterly results. The listed unicorn reported a 42% year-on-year increase in its consolidated net profit to INR 5 Cr, while revenue surged 41% YoY to INR 1,148.4 Cr in the first quarter of financial year 2022-23 (FY23). 

In the social commerce and content-to-commerce segments, LBB competes with the likes of Meesho, Good Glamm Group, among many others. 

According to Statista, India’s social commerce segment is estimated to reach a market size of $7 Bn in 2022. This number is projected to further soar to $84 Bn by 2030.