French beauty products maker L’Occitane is leading a $6-million funding round in on-demand beauty services startup MyGlamm, which will be the largest round of funding in the sector.
The funding, which also saw participation from existing investor Tano Capital and Brand Capital (part of the Times Group which publishes The Economic Times), will help the Mumbai-based startup expand into new cities across the country and even overseas.
MyGlamm is also in talks to raise another $4 million from a large Indian consumer internet company, said Founder Darpan Sanghvi.
“This is the first instance globally of a beauty company investing in a tech-enabled startup in the space,” said Sanghvi, who founded the company last year. “The strategic support of L’Occitane in our growth will also be a big differentiator over the competition.”
Sanghvi also runs offline beauty and wellness business under another company called Sanghvi Brands, which has the master franchise of L’Occitane Spa and other high-end salons and spas like Warren Tricomi, Elle Spa & Salons and Holyfield Gyms.
Globally, companies like China’s Helijia, which raised $50 million from IDG Capital & Qiming Venture as well as US-based GlamSquad, which raised $24 million from SoftBank Capital & NEA have attracted funding in this space.
But in India, investment in MyGlamm comes at a time when players in the hyperlocal services space have found it hard to raise follow-on funding. Competition in the space is now primarily between horizontals, which includes Quikr and Sulekha along with new players like Housejoy and UrbanClap.
Last year, UrbanClap raised $25 million led by Bessemer Venture Partners while Amazon-backed Housejoy has built a strong business in the space under a brand called Beautyjoy. Beauty has also emerged as the focal point for competition between these players because of high value and repeat business.
MyGlamm claims that it does 600 services a day in Mumbai and Pune, with repeats contributing to more than 60% of the business. “Repeat customers spend a lot more than new customers.
Source: The Economic Times
