New Delhi-based men’s grooming brand Bombay Shaving Company, has raised an undisclosed amount in series A round led by Colgate-Palmolive Asia Pacific Ltd, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based Colgate-Palmolive, along with existing investor Fireside Ventures.
The primary investment is expected to be worth ₹18 crores ($2.6 million), and the Hong Kong-based consumer brand is also expected to have picked a 14% minority stake in Bombay Shaving Company.
The funds raised will be used to scale the brand by investing in product development, scaling distribution, and building the brand.
Bombay Shaving Company was founded by Shantanu Deshpande, along with Raunak Munot, Deepu Panicker and Rohit Jaiswal in 2015. This men’s grooming brand offers various products such as razors, shaving creams, scrubs, shaving brushes, and towels.
The brand has an offline presence in four cities with more than 700 retail touch points, contributing 20% to its overall business. It has also expanded its product offerings to 32 products across various categories.
Talking about the investment, Kanwaljit Singh, founder of Fireside Ventures and board member at BSC said,“India is premiumising rapidly. Young men in India are demanding more thoughtfully made products and a better choice. The BSC team has been able to quickly ramp up its product portfolio and expansion of its online platform. We see BSC building a strong brand with emotional appeal and a compelling product narrative.”
The brand claims to have registered an annualized revenue of around ₹16 crores in the quarter ended in June and is looking to boost its revenue to ₹20 crores by the end of FY19.
Bombay Shaving Company had last raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by Fireside Ventures in August 2017. It also secured $650,000 in another round from a clutch of investors including Subramanian Ramadorai, former vice chairman of TCS, and McKinsey India MD Noshir Kaka
Other players in the men’s grooming segment competing with the Bombay Shaving Company, include Ustraa, a brand by Happily Unmarried, Beardo, The Man Company, among others.