5 Indian clean beauty startups disrupting the personal care industry

A continuous change in customer awareness and buying behaviour has got the beauty and personal care market to undergo a revolution. Consumers are looking for better quality herbal, organic, and Ayurvedic products that do not harm their skin.

According to TechSci Research, India’s organic personal care products market is poised to grow from $571.43 million in 2020 to $1,239.4 million in 2026 at a CAGR of 14.69 percent. 

YourStory has compiled five homegrown startups, taking the Indian organic personal care market to the next level with their unique products.

Asa Beauty

Founded in 2019 by Sukriti Jindal Khaitan, Asa beauty is a Mumbai-based D2C brand that offers sustainable and vegan products, free from animal cruelty and inspired by the virtue of nature.

In an earlier conversation with YourStory, Sukriti mentioned, "In creating a product like this sustainable and aesthetically pleasing lipstick, it is essential to actively choose environmentally friendly processes. Our products are inspired by nature, with formulations made using earth-friendly ingredients, and this reflects in the curvature and shapes of our packaging."

The brand claims its formulations are clean, earth-friendly, and natural, made with over 92 percent natural ingredients.

Nature’s Tattva

Founded in 2018 by Karnesh Mahendru, Megha Wadhwa, and Mona Singh, Delhi-based DIY beauty brand Nature’s Tattva sells online through marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, and its website. 

Aiming to disrupt the way beauty products are consumed in India, the brand provides raw materials with easy DIY instructions, allowing users to make their beauty care products fit for their skin and hair type.

In a conversation, Megha Wadhwa, Co-founder of Nature’s Tattva, said, "We are sourcing the best of the products from across the globe, and our USP is getting the products from the source itself after thorough research. We have set standards for each product, and stringent quality measures are taken to assure the very best products reach our customers."

She added, "We are looking to solve three pressing problems in the beauty space —No product is 100 percent natural; Products are not fresh, and even if products they 100 percent natural, they have a small shelf life." 

In April 2020, the startup raised $150,000 from singer Sukhbir Singh and others to scale operations, acquire talent, and brand building activities. 

Tribe Concepts

Tribe Concepts firmly relay the force of the ancient science of Ayurveda and natural Indian ingredients.

The Bengaluru-based bootstrapped startup — founded in 2019 by Amritha Gaddam — has either oil or powder-based products made up of plant-based ingredients.

"Organic and natural are used loosely, and everyone is coming up with DIY products at home. Our products are different as they are made using professional knowledge of my father's Ayurvedic practice.

Even a 10-20 percent change in an ingredient matters a lot." Amrith mentioned in a conversation.

mCaffeine

Mumbai-based mCaffeine is a caffeinated personal care brand with an astonishing range of caffeine-infused items for youthful and aspiring millennials.

Talking to YourStory, Tarun Sharma said, "India has historically been an ingredient-driven country. An important metric that mCaffeine focuses on is revenue by product density. The company recently launched a body wash that comes in a container in the shape of a cup of coffee. Thus, the brand is always trying to launch innovative products in existing categories."

Founded in 2016 by Tarun Sharma and Vikas Lachhwan, in September 2020, the startup raised Rs 42 crore in a Series B round from Amicus Capital and others to invest in hair and skincare products development.

Vilvah Store

Founded in 2017 by Kauthika Kumaran, Coimbatore-based beauty startup Vilvah Store offers made-in-house products made with natural and chemical-free skincare products using goat milk.

The bootstrapped startup — which sells through online marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, and Nykaa — aims to bring the right mix of carrier oils, butter, agriculture produce, and essential oils.

"After many experiments, we perfected a recipe that we originally created for our family, and that is what we sell to our customers. We started with two or three goats on our farm, and now there are herds of goats. After obtaining fresh milk from them, different goat milk products are made," Kauthika told YourStory.