Online Retailer Nykaa.com Says Plans to Raise Up to Rs. 100 Crores

Online beauty retailer Nykaa.com Wednesday said it plans to raise Rs. 60-100 crore for marketing and setting up warehouses even as it focuses on opening more retail outlets to deepen its footprint.

"We plan to raise another Rs. 60 to Rs. 100 crore from private sources...majority of investment will be into marketing to build the brand, warehouses and also on technology to enable more number of shoppers to shop simultaneously on the portal," Nykaa.com Founder and CEO Falguni Nayar told reporters Chandigarh.

The company had raised $9.5 million (roughly Rs. 63 crores) from private equity firm TVS Capital last year.

To expand its offline presence, the former investment banker said the company plans to open 30 stores in 30 cities by 2020.

"We shall soon open three more stores two in Mumbai and one in Bengaluru," she said, adding that currently the company has one outlet in Delhi.

She further said the company has three warehouses in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. "We have plans to open another warehouse at Kolkata," Nayar said.

Noting that Indian customers have embraced online shopping, she said there are about 85-90 million online shoppers at present, out of which about 40 million are women.

"There are five million people who visit the company's portal every month while there are about 1.5 million customers who have signed up with Nykaa.com," she said.

Nykaa.com has over 400 brands and 40,000 products covering make-up, skincare, hair care, fragrances, personal care and luxury products which are delivered across 900 cities in India.

Some of the key beauty brands available on Nykaa.com include L'Oreal, Maybelline, Lakme, Forest Essentials, Kama, Kiehls , Lancome, La Roche Posay, Inglot, Makeup Revolution, Vichy and Avene.

"The company shall endeavour to bring in the best of beauty products from across the globe, including Korea and Israel, to the Indian customers," she said.