Bombay Shaving Company (BSC), India’s biggest hair removal business, has raised INR 160 crore in a round led by Malabar Investments, an Indian hedge fund. Patni Advisors, Singularity AMC, and other HNIs also took part in the round. This financing included ESOP sales for some of its workers as well as INR 45 crore in exits for early investors. The financing comes 11 months after Reckitt, a global FMCG leader in the health, hygiene, and nutrition space, invested INR 45 crore in the company. Colgate Palmolive and Reckitt Benckiser are two worldwide, strategic behemoths on the company’s cap table.
BSC began as a premium, direct-to-consumer (D2C) shaving regimen company in 2016 and has subsequently expanded into a variety of hair removal categories. BSC entered the women’s hair removal market in 2020 with their brand ‘Bombay Shaving Company–Women,’ which today accounts for over 25% of total revenue. BSC offers a diverse range of hair removal solutions for men and women, with over 100 SKUs.
Commenting on the latest funding round Sumeet Nagar, Managing Director at Malabar Investments said “We found the Bombay Shaving Company team to have this passionate and obsessive compulsion to address consumer pain points through product innovation, which is the hallmark of any great consumer company. In a short period of time, they have built a sizable business and a differentiated franchise despite heavily established competition. We believe hair removal is a large market and Bombay Shaving Company has emerged as a strong challenger across categories. We are thrilled to partner with them.”