[Funding alert] Beauty startup Believe raises $55M in Series C led by Venturi Partners, IIFL AMC

Singapore-based consumer products startup Believe, which has brands spanning skincare, fragrances, make-up, and hair care, on Thursday announced that it has raised Series C funding of $55 million from Venturi Partners and IIFL AMC. 

The round also saw participation from Jungle Ventures, Accel, Alteria Capital, and Genesis Alternative Ventures. Investment from IIFL AMC is subject to approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

As per the official statement, this fundraise will help the beauty startup catalyse consolidating market share in Bangladesh and India (via strategic acquisitions) while deepening reach in Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC ) and SouthEast Asia (through both organic and inorganic growth) paving the path to becoming a large global consumer packaged goods (CPGs) conglomerate.

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Ankit Mahajan, CEO of Believe Pte Ltd, said, 

“We have received tremendous consumer love all the way from launching our first product in 2019 to witnessing 2.5x growth in the last one year. Our 2000+ family of happy Believers help us be nimble and responsive to consumer needs. We have created a relentless marketing organisation that has the ability to identify consumer needs, use 12-member strong R&D expertise to make fantastic products and then put our international supply chain to deliver global standard products to countries across the world.” 

Launched in mid 2019 by Ankit Mahajan, the Singapore-based startup is a house of brands that includes Lafz, ZM, and Dr Rhazes. The startup claims that it has received incredible customer love in Bangladesh and India with a growing base in GCC countries. It is sold in over eight countries and is manufactured across the globe including countries like South Korea, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and UAE. 

As per the startup, Lafz is a premium brand crafted with traditional ingredients; ZM’s vegan, cruelty free, single ingredient positioning finds popularity among the youthful and aspirational. 

Nicholas Cator, Founder and Managing Partner at Venturi, said,

“We have been extremely impressed by BPC founders' ability to build a diversified portfolio of products and a unique distribution network during a pandemic. We are convinced that with its strong team and group of investors, Believe will become the leading global halal and clean BPC house of brands.”

The beauty startup has cumulatively raised over $80 million over the last two years. The Series A and Series B fund raises were led by Accel and Jungle Ventures with participation from Wamda Capital, a Middle East based fund.

Chetan Naik, Fund Manager at IIFL AMC, added,

“Believe has demonstrated unprecedented traction and growth in a very short period via its brands focused on the global markets in the BPC segment. With its unique positioning of halal-based clean products (devoid of alcohol and animal ingredients), it has addressed the latent need of a large target market in a highly focused manner.”