Beauty Brand SUGAR Cosmetics Raises $21 Mn In Series C Funding Round Led By Elevation Capital Sugar Cosmetics aims to sell through 40,000 retail outlets over the next 12-18 months compared with 10,000 currently

Mumbai-based digital-first beauty brand SUGAR Cosmetics announced on Monday to have raised $21 million in Series C funding round led by Elevation Capital (formerly, SAIF Partners), with existing investors A91 Partners, India Quotient participating and strategic venture debt from Stride Ventures.

Vertices Partners acted as legal counsels for the company in this round.

Crafted in India, the company facilities across Germany, Italy, India, the USA, and Korea. Backed by investors and the love of millions of makeup enthusiasts, the platform is rapidly scaling its physical presence with over 10,000 retail outlets as of 2020 over across 130 cities and a mission of reaching the doorstep of every makeup user in the country, the company said.

"With SUGAR's sixfold jump in revenues over the last two fiscal years, we are extremely grateful to all our customers who believe in our mission to make high-quality inclusive beauty accessible to everyone. While the COVID-19 disruption was a spanner in the works, we were quick to bounce back to 150 per cent of our pre-COVID revenues last quarter and that too profitably. A brand can only be as resilient as the team that drives it and for this, I thank my colleagues, our customers, and existing investors who supported us through unpredictable times. Today, Kaushik and I are delighted to welcome Elevation Capital as the newest shareholder in our cap table as we power ahead to build a loved and enduring brand over the next decade," said Vineeta Singh, co-founder, and chief executive officer, SUGAR Cosmetics, while speaking on the brand's growth.

The company started as a direct-to-consumer (D2C) cosmetics brand by Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee in 2015 with products that were specifically created to suit Indian skin tones.

E-commerce contributes ~50 per cent to the company's revenue.

"In a short period of time, SUGAR has done a tremendous job in establishing itself as the go-to cosmetics brand for modern-day Indian women. By starting out digital-first and obsessing over the needs of their consumers, SUGAR has not only developed a playbook to create better products suited for the Indian market but has also enhanced awareness about various make-up products through its social media channels. We are super excited to be a part of the next chapter of their journey," added Deepak Gaur, partner, Elevation Capital.

Today, the beauty brand is a Top 5 cosmetics brand by sales contribution at most stores of retail chains like Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop, and Health & Glow. Having closed FY20 at net revenue of INR 105 crore, the company is currently at an annual net revenue run rate of ~ INR 200 crore with the aim to double this in the next 12 months.