Beauty tech startup Kult raises $20 million from M3M Family Office, other investors
Summary
Beauty tech and discovery platform Kult has raised $20 million (Rs 170 crore) in Series A funding from M3M family office. The round also saw participation from investment firm Venture Catalysts.The brand was started by Karishma Singh and Ruchika Pallavi and we met the team and decided to partner with them not just as an investor but for growth as well. We have no plan to go offline as of now and the initial focus is to capture ecommerce business, said Aishwarya Bansal, of the M3M Family Office.Indias beauty and personal care (BPC) market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10%, reaching $30 billion by 2027. Of this, the online BPC segment is expected to account for $10 billion.Kult is a technology-led beauty platform that leverages AI to deliver personalized skincare recommendations. Its visual catalog showcases products for a diverse range of Indian skin tones, making discovery intuitive and relevant.Earlier this year, French cosmetics giant LOreal along with investors such as V3 Ventures and DSG Consumer invested Rs 65 crore in skin care brand Deconstruct.Currently, focused beauty brands like LOr\xe9al, Mamaearth, Nivea and Nykaa hold a 33% market share and are expected to expand to 42% in the next five years.Earlier ET had reported that Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has held discussions with direct-to-consumer (D2C) beauty brand Minimalist for an acquisition valuing it at Rs 3,000 crore.Established companies like HUL and Procter & Gamble, which account for two-thirds of the market, are projected to lose share by 900 basis points to 58% by 2027, according to a joint report by Redseer Strategy Consultants and Peak XV Partners.Sugar Cosmetics, Plum and Foxtale are among other new-age brands in this space.