Personal Care Startup mCaffeine Raises INR 42 Cr In Round Led By Amicus Capital

Update: September 21, 2020 — 3:48 PM — mCaffeine has announced that it has raised INR 42 Cr in a Series B funding round from a consortium of investors led by Amicus Capital. With the recent funding, the company plans to place more emphasis on a customer-driven approach, and increase its online and offline presence substantially. 

September 12, 2020: Mumbai-based personal care startup mCaffeine has raised over INR 22 Cr from multiple investors. 

According to filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs accessed by Inc42, mCaffeine, through its parent company Pep Technologies Pvt Ltd, has issued 23,217 Series B Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) at a face value of INR 10 per share and a premium of INR 9,507 per share to eight entities. Further, the company has allotted 300 equity shares with a face value of INR 10 each and a premium of INR 28,541 per equity share, to three entities. The most amount of Series B CCPS and equity shares have been allotted to three entities 

1. Amicus Capital Private Equity I LLP – 19,113 Series B CCPS and 100 equity shares, aggregating to a total amount of INR 18,47,53,521. 
2. Amicus Capital Partners India Fund I – 1,821 Series B CCPS and 50 equity shares, aggregating to a total amount of INR 1,87,58,007
3. Milestone Trusteeship Services Private Limited Trustee of RP-SG Venture Fund 1 – 1,653 Series B CCPS and 150 equity shares, aggregating to a total amount of INR 2,00,14,251

Overall, the company has raised a total amount of INR 22,95,21,489 from various investors. 

Founded in 2016 by Vikas Lachhwani and Tarun Sharma, mCaffeine is a personal care startup which offers caffeine-infused skin and hair care products. At present, it offers 10 products in the face, body and hair care range. It claims to have 5,00,000 customers.

Till date, mCaffeine has raised a total of $2.8 Mn in three funding rounds. 

The company’s last funding round came in June last year when it raised $2 Mn in a Series A funding round by RP-SG Ventures, which is also one of the investors in the recent funding round, through its trustee, the Milestone Trusteeship Services Private Limited. 

RP-SG Ventures is an early-stage consumer venture capital fund with investments across segments in the B2C ecosystem such as food & beverage, personal care and lifestyle goods. The fund invests in early-stage consumer businesses across their Seed A to Series B rounds. Their current portfolio also includes online retailers ‘The Souled Store’ and ‘ShopG’.

mCaffeine sells its products online through its own portal as well as brands such as Amazon and Nykaa. Last year, the company added a green tea range of products and was reportedly targeting 1 Mn customers in the next 12 months with an aim of recording INR 100 Cr accounting rate of return (ARR). 

Personal Care Market In India

The personal care market in India is set to touch $20 Bn by 2035 on the back of a rise in disposable income of the middle class and growing aspirations of people to live a good life and look good, according to ASSOCHAM. 

With stiff competition in the market, which is expected to cross $3.5 Bn (INR 25,110 Cr) by 2022, mCaffeine continues to challenge players such as Plum, Kapiva Ayurveda, and others.