RENEE Cosmetics bringing innovation to India’s beauty industry

Founded in 2019, Renee Cosmetics is an Indian makeup and cosmetics brand which is headquartered in Ahmedabad. Last month, the brand raised $10 million in a Series A round of funding led by Mensa Brands.

RENEE Cosmetics has so far secured a total of $11 million.

Ashutosh Valani, Co-founder, RENEE Cosmetics says that the company has shown impressive growth over the past 10 months. “We grew so fast that we were achieving yearly goals within a quarter and that is when we thought that we would require more funds to aggressively push the growth,” he says.

He adds that this particular round was raised to grow the product catalogue. Apart from that, the funds would also be used to grow the offline channels. Additionally, marketing will also be an important area of investment for the company.

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“We also want to give a part of these funds to product development where we can bring cleaner and greener products while sustaining the price points,” says Ashutosh.

Ashutosh shares that the company’s lipstick range –  RENEE Fab Five Lipstick – accelerated its success. The brand has recently launched black lipstick and plans on rolling out more such innovative and fun products for their customers.

In terms of growth targets, he mentions that the company had aimed to achieve an average run rate of Rs 50 crore by March 2022, which they have already crossed. The brand now aims to achieve Rs 150 crore in ARR (annual recurring revenue) by the end of this year (December 2022).

“We are looking to grow three folds within the next ten months,” says Ashutosh.

Talking about fundraise, he says that the company’s focus was on creating a sustainable business and thus they are not burning much money. Therefore, the company’s focus is on raising a meaningful amount of money and growing exponentially.

In terms of acquisitions, Ashutosh mentions that there is a lot of room for growth within and around the company. Presently, their main focus is on RENEE Cosmetics and the categories that it serves and plans to explore. Going forward, after achieving a certain amount of scale, the company might look into acquisitions.

Lastly, Ashutosh says that the company is aiming to go offline and be present in almost all beauty stores. “We want to make sure that wherever our consumers go we follow,” he says.