Lighthouse India Fund III, Limited, an affiliate of Lighthouse Advisors, India’s leading, consumer-focused private equity manager, has invested Rs 113 crore to acquire a secondary stake in Nykaa, India’s premier beauty retailer. Nykaa raised Rs 160 crore through primary and secondary share sale with participation of existing investors earlier this year.

Nykaa achieved revenues of Rs 570 crore for FY 17-18 and has been EBITDA positive for two quarters in a row. The retailer is on a path to 100% revenue growth in the current financial year. In this new phase of growth Nykaa will look to expanding its portfolio with the launch of exclusive brand partnerships and increasing its offline footprint to 90 stores across India by 2020. Nykaa has also introduced new verticals including Nykaa Design Studio, a curation of premium Indian fashion designers, Nykaa Man – a men’s grooming offer and Nykaa Pro – a portal for professional beauty consumers. In March 2018 Nykaa also launched Nykaa Network – a community for encouraging consumers to engage and create beauty conversations, which today has already built a user base of 300k followers.

“We are excited to welcome Lighthouse to our shareholder base as we launch into our next phase of growth. We believe they will bring to bear their expertise in the retail sector propelling Nykaa to even greater heights. Over the past six years, our customers have come to trust brand Nykaa with our focus on bringing the best products, content and shopping convenience together. As we add new verticals and product categories we will continue to build on meaningful experiences that engage and delight our customers,” shared Falguni Nayar, founder & CEO, Nykaa.com.

Sean Sovak, co-founder of Lighthouse, added, “We are truly thrilled to become a shareholder in Nykaa. What Falguni and team have created is nothing short of brilliant, completely disrupting the personal care market in India, by focusing on ease of access and superior customer experience. We are excited by the opportunity ahead for the company.”

This transaction earmarks the attractive exit for TVS Shriram Growth Fund, which invested in Nykaa in 2015 and 2016 as part of the Series B and Series C fund raise.

(As published in http://bwdisrupt.businessworld.in on Thu, September 06 2018. )