Info Edge Invests $900K In Online Beauty And Wellness Marketplace BigStylist

Mumbai-based beauty and wellness services marketplace BigStylist has raised $900K in a fresh round of funding from Info Edge.

As per a BSE filing, Info Edge has to date invested $1.86 Mn (INR 124 Mn) in the company with a stake ownership of 39%.

“This is a bridge round, which will help the company break even,” Info Edge founder and executive vice chairman, Sanjeev Bikhchandani said to VCCircle. He also added that Info Edge is the sole investor in this round.

BigStylist was founded in July 2015 by IIT Kharagpur graduates, Richa Singh, Chinmaya Sharma, and Anurag Srivastava. With BigStylist, customers can place orders and get access to experienced stylists and beauticians through the website, WhatsApp or their Android app.

BigStylist distinguishes itself from other hyperlocal technology platforms by their ability to work with only experienced professionals, and provide delivery of services as quick as an hour. The team at BigStylist achieves this through their proprietary selection and interview methodology that ensures a low-cost and scalable model without physical investments in any academies or training institutes.

Earlier in November 2015, the startup raised $1 Mn in a Pre-Series A round led again by Info Edge. At that point, it had an average ticket size of about INR 750 per customer and was serving more than 3000 customers in Mumbai with a team of 25 and about 200 beauticians in its network.

Beauty and hygiene is a $10 Bn market and is estimated to grow at a 10% CAGR to $17 Bn by 2020, according to a February report by the Indian Beauty and Hygiene Association (IBHA), Bain and Co., and Google India.

In April 2016, Mumbai-based on-demand beauty services startup MyGlamm has raised $6 Mn in a funding round led by French cosmetics maker L’Occitane. Other startups in the space include Stayglad in Bengaluru, Vanitycube in NCR, Vyomo in Delhi, and Stylofie in Gurugram among others.

Info Edge recently invested in startups such as Canvera Digital Technologies, Happily Unmarried, VCare, and Unnati.

The development was first reported by VCCircle.