FMCG major Marico Ltd, the maker of Parachute hair oil and Saffola vegetable oil, has acquired five-year-old men’s grooming startup Beardo. According to the knowledge disclosed with the stock exchanges. Beardo was launched by Ashutosh Valani and Priyank Shah in June 2016. It offers growth oil, wax and shampoo for beard; wax and serum for hair; and lotion, soap and face wash for skin, the corporate claims to possess strong presence online and at salons.
The deal involved the complete exit of Venture Catalysts and other investors from Beardo. The startup accelerator and incubation platform had led a seed round of funding in Beardo in 2016. It said on Wednesday that its investors generated 5 to 8 times returns by selling their stake to Marico.
Beardo also counted actor Suniel Shetty as its investor and had recently roped in actor Hrithik Roshan as its brand ambassador. Marico, however, had already acquired 45 per cent stake in Beardo back in 2017 to tap into the men’s grooming market in India. The additional 55 per cent stake was acquired by Marico earlier within the week.
“At a time when most of the Indian Venture Catalysts and angel investors were chasing tech-startups from Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore, Venture Catalysts believed during and reposed its faith in a startup from small city like Ahmedabad” said Ashutosh Valani, Co-founder of Beardo.
There are a few of deals within the grooming products segment within the recent past. Earlier this year, Wipro Consumer Care, a unit of Wipro Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, invested in Chandigarh-based male grooming startup LetsShave Pvt. Ltd.
In August 2018, Bombay Shaving Company raised an undisclosed amount in its Series A round led by FMCG Colgate-Palmolive. The company’s existing investor Fireside Ventures also participated within the round.
In 2017, fast-moving FMCG Emami Ltd entered the men’s grooming product space by learning a 30% stake within the Man Company.