New Delhi-based , a hair removal brand for men and women, recently secured Rs 160 crore in a Series C funding round led by Malabar Investments. The round also saw participation from Patni Advisors, Singularity AMC and well known HNIs.
The funds, according to Founder and CEO Shantanu Deshpande, will be used to power the company’s ambitious plans of 5-10x growth over the next 8-12 quarters.
“The idea is to continue to grab share in the categories that we are present in both online and offline channels,” Founder and CEO Shantanu Deshpande says. Additionally, the company is going to invest in product innovation, offline sales distribution and inherent brand building.
Bombay Shaving Company has set a revenue target of Rs 500 crore in the next two years. Commenting on that, Shantanu says that the brand has grown 5x in the last five quarters and if it is able to continue on the growth trajectory, it will reach its target. The company’s idea is to build market share in the offline space while continuing to maintain the share in the categories in the online space.
“Right now we are present in 35000-40000 stores but the idea is to take them to 2 lakh stores and maintain the same shares,” he says.
Apart from that, launching more products especially for women is an important growth driver for Bombay Shaving Company, shares Shantanu. Brand penetration is also an important growth driver for the company. “The ability to tell a story over and over again to people across media platforms is important,” he says.
In terms of international expansion, the founder says that hair removal has a unique use case across the world and is different in every country. As a company, it is primarily looking into areas where ethnicity results in a lot of hair growth, and removal becomes an important part of the beauty process.
Shantanu Deshpande, Founder and CEO, Bombay Shaving Company
“We have already gotten a lot of interest from the Indian subcontinent such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Middle East, Pakistan,” says Shantanu. In the next few years, their focus would be on targeting hair removal solutions to people relevant in the international market using partnerships with distributors and retailers.
Shantanu explains that Bombay Shaving Company is uniquely positioned as a company that has two global investors, Colgate Palmolive and Reckitt.
“If we have a pipe to 2 lakh stores, that pipe can carry Bombay Shaving Company and maybe 2-3 other young companies also because that expertise exists with us,” he says. Thus, the company is thinking of expanding inorganically by acquiring adjacent brands that are easily sellable offline, have good product market fit, good founders and are a culture fit to their team.
Bombay Shaving Company is optimistic about its ability to maintain its momentum. The company, according to the founder, went into the market to raise about Rs 100 crore and ended up receiving Rs 500 crore worth of offers. “If we are able to raise another Rs 300-500 crore by March-May, we would be able to start doing a lot of deal making,” says Shantanu.
Lastly, he says that the company has a 10-12 quarter timeline for an IPO (initial public offer). He believes that challenger brands get a lot of love on the streets and Bombay Shaving Company, being a direct challenger to Gillette, is likely to get a lot of attention on the public market.
