Sugar Cosmetics, operated by Vellvette Lifestyle Pvt Ltd, has secured Series D funding of $50 million (Rs 388 crore) led by US-based private equity fund L Catterton.
The round also saw participation from the company’s existing backers- A91 Partners, Elevation Capital and India Quotient.
VCCircle was the first to report in November last year that the beauty brand is in advanced stage of discussion with L Catterton.
“The firm’s brand-building and value-creation capabilities will fortify our growth as we continue on our journey of delighting and over-delivering on the expectations of our customers and fans. We are also extremely grateful for our existing investors’ unwavering faith in both of us and the unstoppable team that is making our collective dream a reality,” said Vineeta Singh, CEO and Co-Founder of Sugar.
L Catterton is looking forward to leverage its experience of working with over 20 beauty and personal care companies in across the Americas, Europe and Asia for future growth of Sugar.
Its past investments in the space include the likes of Il Makiage, Intercos, The Honest Company, TULA, Bliss, Ci FLAVORS, ELEMIS, ETVOS, Function of Beauty, Marubi, MERIT and Sociolla, among others.
“We have been impressed with how Sugar has sustained its momentum of rapid growth across online and offline channels while maintaining healthy operating metrics,” said Anjana Sasidharan, L Catterton Asia MD, who will be also joining the company’s board.
The company raised $21 million (Rs 153 crore then) in its Series C round led by Elevation Capital (formerly SAIF Partners) early this year.
Sugar also counts A91 Partners, India Quotient and Stride Ventures among its other backers.
Sugar was founded by Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee, both Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad alumni, in 2012. The company offers a range of make-up products and everyday skincare products.
While ecommerce still accounts for 50% of Sugar’s revenue, the brand has also built an omni-channel distribution network that includes over 40,000 retail outlets across over 550 cities in the country.
Sugar had in October last year raised $2 million in debt led by venture debt firm Stride Ventures.
The cosmetics brand had got seed funding from early-stage venture capital firm India Quotient in 2013, according to VCCEdge.
In 2017, Singapore-based RB Investments came as a new investor, followed by A91 Partners last year.
Fundraising activity in the broader beauty and personal care segment has surged over the last few months.
India has been witnessing the rise of D2C brands across categories and is estimated to have a $100 billion addressable market by 2025, according to an October 2021 note by Avendus.
Earlier this month, Skincare and wellness brand Wow Skin Science has raised a round of primary capital from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.
In March, personal care brand Plum raised $35 million (Rs 270 crore) as a part of its Series C funding led by growth stage investor A91 Partners.
