Shilpa Shetty Kundra invests in Mamaearth – says, "I love their toxin-free baby care products”
Delhi-based mother and childcare products company Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd's brand Mamaearth on Wednesday announced that Bollywood celebrity, mother, and entrepreneur – Shilpa Shetty Kundra has come on board as an equity investor.
Mamaearth was founded by husband-wife duo Varun and Ghazal Alagh after they became parents. The couple found that safety was a big concern for parents and decided to launch the company which focuses on safe, toxin-free, international standard products.
The first round of funding was led by Kanwaljit Singh and a few other investors in 2016. The company raised $1 million in the second round of funding led by Fireside Ventures and other investors in 2017.
Varun Alagh said, "We are very excited to have Shilpa on board as an investor. She is a seasoned entrepreneur, wellness ambassador, an experienced mother and most importantly, she understands the nuances of a business. Her investment in Mamaearth is a validation of our purpose and our capability to execute. With her personal involvement in Mamaearth, we expect to take our brand’s message of toxin-free parenting to a much larger audience. We already have more than 100K happy consumers across 121 cities and we expect to reach 250K consumers by the end of this year."
Mamaearth has store presence in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru and plans to expand to 10 cities. The products are available on Amazon, Flipkart, Firstcry, Nykaa, and Mamaearth.in.
On her investment, Shilpa Shetty Kundra said, “I am really excited about my investment in Mamaearth. The brand is the future and so relevant for today’s India! Parents like me are always looking for the best in quality products for their children which are also “safe” and legit. I myself have been using the shampoo, oil and other products for my son Viaan-Raj for the last three months and totally love them. The Mamaearth philosophy, especially the use of natural and non-toxic, chemical-free products, resonates perfectly with my green ideology as this does impact our lives in the long run. "
On Shilpa's investment, VS Kannan Sitaram, Venture Partner at Fireside Ventures said, "Together, Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Mamaearth will create new opportunities for the business and help the brand strengthen its purpose and reduce parental stress for more parents. As an investor, I believe there is always merit in partnering with people who are aligned with your culture and beliefs. This enables the brand to grow manifold."
Ghazal Alagh said, "We are a 'mum-powered' company and work with a large number of mothers who are involved right from the ideation, conceptualisation stage to developing the actual product. Our mum community has helped us come up with innovative products like easy Tummy Roll-on and Clean Cuties, which are based on little problems of parents that only mums understand. As our First Mum Shilpa will share her knowledge and experience with us which will help us at Mamaearth create more innovative and relevant products going forward."
The Indian maternity and baby care products market has been witnessing tremendous growth in the last few years, in comparison to other emerging markets across the world.
According to statistics collected by ResearchMoz, the baby care market in India will grow at 17 percent CAGR between 2014 and 2019.