NEW DELHI: Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser has led a Rs 45 crores funding round in Visage Lines Personal Care Pvt Ltd which owns Bombay Shaving Company. The round also saw participation from individual HNIs such as Rajesh Sud from Bharti Enterprises, Avaana Capital founder Anjali Bansal, and CleanMax Energy MD Kuldeep Jain. The investment is in line with RB’s strategy to play in new spaces and places.
RB SVP - e-commerce, digital, and ventures Arjun Purkayastha will join the Visage Lines board.
“We are thrilled to partner with the team at Bombay Shaving Company. Our investment represents a commitment to bring the best of two worlds together – Bombay Shaving Company’s expertise in digital-first brands with strong ecommerce capabilities, and RB’s expertise in branding, manufacturing, and global scale. Together, this combination of complementary skills sets us up for huge success,” said Purkayastha.
Launched in 2016, Bombay Shaving Company has a portfolio of over 100 products across shaving, bath and body, skin, and beard care. RB’s investment will support the grooming start-up’s plans to scale its operations and provide access to RB’s global scale, expertise, and mentorship.
“RB is a diamond addition to our journey. They have an excellent record in building health and wellness brands over their 200-years heritage. Working in partnership, our young team is ambitious for what we can achieve together and scale our operations with an omnichannel presence,” said Visage Lines founder-CEO Shantanu Deshpande.
The company plans to scale its operations to Rs 150 crore top line in the next fiscal. It is also expanding rapidly in offline retail distribution as the post-Covid footfalls ramp up. “As we build omnichannel revenue streams we are cognisant that brands will be scaled through strong digital and retail distribution. Working with strategic partners over the long term will give us significant leverage in establishing ourselves in the Indian consumer ecosystem,” said Visage Lines CBO Deepak Gupta.
This will be the fifth round of financing for the company that has seen investments from Sixth Sense Venture Partners, Colgate Palmolive, and noted industry powerlifters like former vice-chairman of TCS S Ramadorai, along with 16 senior partners from McKinsey & Company since inception. In 2019, the company had also created Rs 20 crore of exit for early angels and employees.
