Darshan Patel, Founder of Paras Pharma and Vini Cosmetics, has scooped up a major strategic stake in Soothe Healthcare, a feminine hygiene startup that manufactures sanitary napkins and diapers under the brand Paree, people directly familiar with the matter said.The investment deal, which is struck in Patel’s personal capacity, gives him and his family three board seats for a 51% stake in the Noida-based Soothe Healthcare, sources said.
Patel, famous for having built popular brands like Krack cream and Dermi cool heat powder with the help of deep consumer insights, is expected to ride on this acquisition for a big push into the feminine hygiene market.
Multinationals like Procter & Gamble and Johnson & John son have about 92% share of the Rs 3,000-4,000-crore sanitary napkins market, which is ripe for disruption by local innovators. Soothe Healthcare was founded by Sahil Dharia after he quit as global head of research at Thomson Reuters in 2012. He will own 26% post the deal, while consumer-centric fund SixthSense Ventures -along with badminton star Saina Nehwal (also brand ambassador) -will have a 23% ownership.
“I have made a strategic investment in Paree, though it’s not an operating business for me. I have faith in the founder who will continue to manage the business,” Patel told. Soothe Healthcare’s Founder Dharia and SixthSense Ventures, a $50million fund founded by former IDFC Securities MD Nikhil Vora, declined to comment.
Patel said Paree was still a nascent business and it was too early to talk about taking on the big boys of the industry. “Such consumer businesses will take between five to seven years to reach maturity ,” he said. Patel shot to limelight after helping build the familyrun Paras Pharma’s consumer health portfolio of brands like Moov, Krack and ItchGuard, which was eventu ally sold to Reckitt Benckiser for around $726 million in 2010.
Patel’s investment is based on the premise that Soothe would benefit from his branding and distribution-building prowess in the consumer market, sources mentioned earlier in the report said. The seven-year-old Vini Cosmetics, backed by venture fund Sequoia Capital, is behind India’s top selling deodorant brand Fogg with a top line nearing Rs 700 crore and profit of about Rs 100 crore in the current fiscal. It had displaced HUL’s Axe as the largest brand within five years of its launch.
According to estimates, the sanitary pad market in India is expected to touch Rs 25,000 crore in the next seven-eight years.The comparable market in China is worth about Rs 65,000 crore currently . The growth opportunity is significant as the market penetration for the category is just 15% at present.
Source: The Times of India