[Funding alert] ChrysCapital invests $50M in D2C brand WOW Skin Science

Personal care brand WOW Skin Science has announced that ChrysCapital, a India-focused private equity firm, will invest $50 million in the company for a significant minority stake.

The transaction is a combination of a primary raise for growth initiatives, and a secondary sale by existing shareholders. 

Founded in 2014 by brothers Manish and Karan Chowdhary, WOW Skin Science is one of India’s fastest growing new-age beauty and personal care companies available across ecommerce platforms, its own website, and brick-and-mortar stores.

WOW aims to maintain its growth momentum by capitalising on its loyal customer base, expanding penetration across channels, and further developing its portfolio of brands and products. 

“ChrysCapital is a leading India focused private equity firm with deep experience and a proven track record across sectors. We are excited to build a long-term, and mutually beneficial, partnership with ChrysCapital over the coming years. The foundation of this relationship is our shared goal of creating sustainable value at WOW. We also look forward to working closely with Enhancin, ChrysCapital’s portfolio operations group, to achieve these goals," said Manish. .

Consumer-first brand

WOW Skin Science is a “consumer-first” brand in the D2C Space and strives to optimise the consumer’s experience, and address their problems and pain points by leveraging technology and innovation.

From being a digital-first brand, the company now wants to scale up to become the number one brand in the toxin-free space within the larger FMCG sector.

"Along with ChrysCapital, we are focused on creating value for all our consumers, employees, and stakeholders," Manish added.

Ashish Agrawal, Managing Director, ChrysCapital, said, “ChrysCapital is excited to partner with WOW Skin Science in its growth journey towards becoming a formidable house of brands in beauty and personal care. The founders have demonstrated a robust historical track record by significantly outperforming the industry growth while demonstrating superior capital efficiency.

"We look forward to helping WOW grow multifold by further increasing online penetration, driving pan-India offline expansion, and launching new brands in adjacent categories.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers and J. Sagar Associates (JSA) advised Wow Skin Science while Quillon Partners advised ChrysCapital.