Bombay Shaving Company [BSC], the premium online men’s grooming brand and pioneer in the Direct-To-Consumer [D2C] market in India, has raised an undisclosed amount in series A funding. This investment is from a clutch of investors including Colgate-Palmolive Asia Pacific Limited, a subsidiary of the Colgate-Palmolive based in Hong Kong and existing investors Fireside Ventures. As part of the transaction, Colgate-Palmolive has picked up a minority financial stake in the company.
Founded in 2016, Bombay Shaving Company has expanded quickly to 80,000+ customers and a portfolio of 30+ products across shaving, bath and body, skin and beard care categories.
Shantanu Deshpande, Chief Executive at BSC and former McKinsey consultant said
We are thrilled to have raised this round from stellar investors focused in the CPG space. All our investors to date have a track record of being patient, supportive, financial backers with learning in-tent. Building a consumer brand in India needs time, capital and long-term vision. After having proven product market fit with promising repeat rates and product response, we are now looking to scale the brand.
Men’s grooming is proving to be a fast-growing category in the FMCG space in India with growth rates estimated at 30% annually. Many young companies have come up in the past 3~4 years and even established brands have upped investing in product launches and marketing efforts.
S Ramadorai, former Vice-Chairman at TCS and a long-term backer of BSC, said
We met with the team from Colgate-Palmolive and were very excited by the synergies across technology, direct-to-consumer distribution and supply chain. The young team at BSC stands to leverage decades of experience in Colgate-Palmolive to grow the BSC brand and reach.
Kanwaljit Singh, founder of Fireside Ventures and board member at BSC, said
India is premiumizing rapidly. Young men in India are demanding more thoughtfully made products and 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 funds will be used to invest in brand building, product development & expanding capabilities in technology and sales.
About Bombay Shaving Company
Bombay Shaving Company is a young men’s consumer care product brand. The company was launched in June 2016 after spotting a clear gap in the shaving space in India. Aside from Deshpande, the founding team includes Raunak Munot who was Director for Social Media at GroupM in New York and Rohit Jaiswal, IIMU alumnus and former Crompton Greaves executive. In two years, the company has acquired 80,000+ customers, expanded into 30 SKUs, seen 100% quarterly growth and is now available in 500 offline shelves.