Vertex Ventures leads Indian D2C beauty startup’s $20m series B

Pilgrim co-founders Gagandeep Makker (left) and Anurag Kedia / Photo credit: Pilgrim

With rising urbanization and increased social media exposure to global beauty trends, India’s beauty and personal care market is now set to hit US$38 billion in value by 2028. A big part of that growth has come from direct-to-consumer brands: in the past four to five years, over 80 of them have emerged, accompanied by a wave of investments.

One of these D2C players is Pilgrim, which recently raised US$20 million in a series B funding round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India. While the company is based in India, it uses ingredients sourced from countries like France, South Korea, and Australia in its face care, haircare, and skincare products.

Funding details

• Funding amount: $20,000,000
• Lead investor: Vertex Ventures SEA & India
• Other investors: Fireside Ventures, Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office
• Stage: Series B
• Source

Founded in 2019, Pilgrim – which competes with the likes of Mamaearth, Nykaa, and The Good Glamm Group – plans to use the funding for its brand building and R&D efforts as well as to fuel its offline expansion across India.

The firm is currently tracking an annual recurring revenue of US$36.1 million. It aims to grow that figure to US$120.2 million by 2025.

“It’s a consumer-friendly world out there and brands focusing on solving consumer needs are the ones that get maximum value in the ecosystem,” said Narayanan Venkitraman, head of private equity at Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office, one of the round’s participants.

See also: India’s beauty D2C space is booming, but SEA’s may be even bigger

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