ETtechBengaluru: Pilgrim, a direct-to-consumer beauty and personal care startup, has raised close to Rs 13 crore in a Series A funding round led by Fireside Ventures, Rukum Capital and the founding teams of Boat, NoBroker, and the Founder-CEO of Bewakoof.com.
The capital raised will be primarily used for enhancing R&D capabilities, team expansion and brand investments, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
"We did a small angel round a year and a half ago. We had a lean team until a couple of months back when we started building up with the funds we raised,” said Anurag Kedia, co-founder and chief executive officer at Heavenly Secrets, which operates Pilgrim. “Team hiring is going to be a critical area,"
The company had raised Rs 1.8 crore in the angel round. It clocks an annual recurring revenue—a metric for subscription-led businesses—of Rs 18 crore.
According to Kedia, Pilgrim’s brand investments will be made with the aim of bringing global experiences to Indian consumers. Its products are FDA approved and free from parabens, sulphates and mineral oils. These are available on the company’s websites as well as on marketplaces such as Amazon, Nykaa and Flipkart. "At some point we will look at omnichannel expansion but right now our focus is on D2C," Kedia said.
"We believe that Pilgrim will serve the millennial consumers globally and will become an international beauty brand in the future," said Vinay Singh, co-Founder and partner at Fireside Ventures.
D2C brands in India have raised more than $2 billion in funding since 2014, according to reports. Bombay Shaving Company, Zouk and Bewakoof are some of the D2C startups that raised funding in the first quarter of this year.
The capital raised will be primarily used for enhancing R&D capabilities, team expansion and brand investments, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
"We did a small angel round a year and a half ago. We had a lean team until a couple of months back when we started building up with the funds we raised,” said Anurag Kedia, co-founder and chief executive officer at Heavenly Secrets, which operates Pilgrim. “Team hiring is going to be a critical area,"
The company had raised Rs 1.8 crore in the angel round. It clocks an annual recurring revenue—a metric for subscription-led businesses—of Rs 18 crore.
According to Kedia, Pilgrim’s brand investments will be made with the aim of bringing global experiences to Indian consumers. Its products are FDA approved and free from parabens, sulphates and mineral oils. These are available on the company’s websites as well as on marketplaces such as Amazon, Nykaa and Flipkart. "At some point we will look at omnichannel expansion but right now our focus is on D2C," Kedia said.
"We believe that Pilgrim will serve the millennial consumers globally and will become an international beauty brand in the future," said Vinay Singh, co-Founder and partner at Fireside Ventures.
D2C brands in India have raised more than $2 billion in funding since 2014, according to reports. Bombay Shaving Company, Zouk and Bewakoof are some of the D2C startups that raised funding in the first quarter of this year.