On Wednesday, Stride Ventures, a leading venture debt fund, announced that it had led the recent funding round of Sugar Cosmetics (1) based in Mumbai.
The cosmetics startup has secured 2 million USD in debt in the first proceedings of the Series C funding round. Ishpreet Gandhi, the founder and Managing Partner at Stride Ventures stated that Sugar Cosmetics has quickly managed to stand out in this fiercely competitive market.
The company’s branding, affordable premium products, and market strategy have significantly affected the growing younger demographic. It has quickly become a household name in the lifestyle segment.
As per the statement of Stride Ventures, the venture-debt fund has collaborated with a leading private bank for the deal. Moreover, it would also become a strategic partner in the growth journey of SUGAR Cosmetics with its customized offerings and relationships across banks and corporates.
SUGAR Cosmetics Making Growth Records with a Hybrid Business Model
Alumni of IIM-Ahmedabad Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee founded Sugar Cosmetics in 2015. It offers make-up products according to Indian skin tones. Notably, it has recorded about 6x growth in its revenues in the past two years.
The cruelty-free brand recorded net revenue worth 105 Crore INR in the financial year 2020. Notably, the startup works on a hybrid model with an online and offline presence across 2400 outlets in more than 130 cities.
Vineeta Singh, the Co-founder and CEO of Sugar Cosmetics stated that it plays in a high gross margin category. It makes debt funding an excellent choice for the team. Moreover, they are also excited to work with Stride and their private partner bank because of their superior market fit and long-term growth appetite.
Sugar Cosmetics has the backing of A91 Partners, IndiaQuotient, and others. Since its inception, the startup has recorded more than six lakh app downloads and over 2.5 million sales on the platform, pre-COVID.
Notably, the cosmetic startup is the tenth investment of Stride Venture from its maiden fund and its first foray in the lifestyle segment. Some of the companies in its portfolio include Bulk MRO, Lets Transport, CredR, Miko, HomeLane, and others.
