Brand of personal care Ustraa, a men’s grooming company, will be acquired by VLCC through a secondary buyout and a share exchange. VLCC will increase its investment in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand Ustraa in order to accelerate its growth.
After the acquisition, the current investors in Ustraa — Info Edge, 360 One (previously IIFL Ventures), and Wipro Consumer Care Ventures — will hold stock in VLCC, the company said in a statement.
The purchase will aid VLCC’s entry into the men’s grooming market.
Rahul Anand and Rajat Tuli, who founded Ustraa, will lead VLCC’s D2C play in addition to continuing to work on the brand.
Happily Unmarried-owned Ustraa, a company that was founded in 2015, sells fragrances, hair care, skin care, and beard care items. According to the business, its app has about 2.2 million users. The company gets about 67% of its business online.
During the fiscal year that ended in March 2022, Ustraa was able to increase its scale by 70% to Rs 67.87 crore, while its losses held steady at Rs 27.91 crore.
Beardo and The Man Company, competitors, respectively reported operating revenue of Rs 95 crore and Rs 73.61 crore in FY22. The Man Company’s losses increased to Rs 30.88 crore, according to Fintrackr’s analysis, while Beardo became profitable during the same fiscal year and reported Rs 75L profits.
To date, Ustraa has received over $10 million in funding from sources including Info Edge, Wipro, and IIFL. It most recently raised Rs 16.8 crore ($2.1 million) from current investors. About this fundraising, Entrackr was the only outlet to report.
A majority stake in VLCC was acquired by international investment company Carlyle earlier this year. Brands like Beautycounter, Every Man Jack, and Delhivery, among others, have received investments from Carlyle’s international private equity funds in the past.
