Exclusive: SUGAR Cosmetics To Raise $4.5 Mn From Anicut, Malabar At Flat Valuation

Mumbai-based D2C SUGAR Cosmetics is set to raise INR 38 Cr ($4.5 Mn) in what seems to be a tranche of funding from a host of investors, including Anicut Equity Continuum Fund, Elevation Capital, Malabar Investment and L Catterton among others. 

As per Inc42’s calculation, the startup secured the fresh funding round at INR 2,600- INR 2,700 Cr. This is almost on a par with the same valuation it raised its last funding round of $50 Mn in 2022. 

Responding to Inc42’s queries, Kaushik Mukherjee, cofounder and COO, said, “The investors who you have named are all existing shareholders of the company and some of the tranches of their investments may come into the company at different timelines.”

The fresh development has also come almost a year after Malabar Investments acquired stakes worth INR 80 Cr of SUGAR Cosmetics from its existing investors – India Quotient and RB Investments. 

As per sources, the startup is in the next year likely to witness another secondary transaction, giving exit to more of its early investors. 

As per sources, the startup is expected to use the fresh capital to scale its last year launched Quench Botanics, a Korean Skincare brand with Kareena Kapoor.

Mukherjee said, “Our investments in FY25 are largely targeted towards scaling our skincare brand, Quench Botanics that has seen strong traction in quick commerce and other eCommerce portals in the past 6 months. We have also earmarked some capital to build distribution for our more affordable range of colour cosmetics under the SUGAR POP sub-brand.”

Besides, the startup is also looking to work on the distribution network for its much affordable sub-brand SUGAR POP. 

In the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), SUGAR reported an operating revenue of INR 505.1 Cr, a 20% increase from INR 420 Cr it had reported in the previous fiscal year.

Sources suggest that while the startup intends to scale the business, the management is more focused on its bottomline, and this can be reflected in their FY24 financials as the startup managed to narrow its loss by 11% to INR 67.6 Cr YoY. 

Founded by husband-wife duo Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee in 2015 as a D2C brand, with only an online platform. However, with omnichannel becoming the norm, the startup later followed the same model. Today, it claims to have a presence in over 45,000 retail stores across India. The startup to date has raised around $90 Mn across multiple funding round. 

The startup competes with the likes of Mamaearth, Nykaa, and international players such as Maybelline and Loreal, among others, in the fast-growing Indian beauty and personal care segment.

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.