BabyChakra forays into D2C baby care space; looks at Rs 100 Cr run-rate by end of 2022

Parenting platform BabyChakra has announced the launch of a baby-safe product range co-created with mothers and doctors.

Founded by Naiyya Saggi, BabyChakra is a part of beauty unicorn The Good Glamm Group. Naiyya is also the co-founder of The Good Glamm Group, along with Founder and CEO Darpan Sanghvi and Co-founder Priyanka Gill. 

The phenoxyethanol, artificial fragrance-free, and organic actives baby range comprise 14 new products, spanning a vast range of baby care products.

These vegan, cruelty-free, free from toxins, and made with certified organic ingredients include moisturising baby body wash, natural strengthening baby shampoo, bamboo water-based wipes, strengthening baby hair oil, nourishing baby massage oil, and organic coconut oil.

It also offers natural diaper rash cream, natural mosquito repellent spray and patch, nourishing lip balm duo for mom and baby, natural foaming hand wash, natural vapour patch, tummy relief roll-on, and after bite roll-on. 

According to the company, BabyChakra incorporated the inputs from mothers and doctors in its products. Designed to be gentle and light on babies' hair and skin, these products are clinically tested in third-party labs, dermatologically tested, and certified safe by international agencies such as Made Safe and accredited Indian bodies.

In an interview with HerStory, Naiyya Saggi spoke about BabyChakra’s new launch involving the community and the shared vision with The Good Glamm Group.

HerStory (HS): What prompted the launch of BabyChakra’s new range? Are you now moving towards being known as a baby care brand?

Naiyya Saggi (NS): The plan to get into commerce to launch a baby care brand was always in the making. When we were acquired by MyGlamm (parent company of The Good Glamm Group), we came together with a shared vision of content-community-commerce.

We wanted to create India’s first certified baby-safe product range, and so we co-created the range with mothers who shared their needs while choosing products for their babies and doctors, whose expert inputs helped us put together a product range.

We are India’s first truly toxin-free baby care brand, with no phenoxyethanol and artificial fragrances in the products. 

HS: How involved was the BabyChakra community-in terms of choices and preferences in products best for their babies?

NS: Right from crowdsourcing the tagline for the range #CareComesFirst—a winning entry by a community member Taslim—to co-creating a “clean label” free from phenoxyethanol and artificial fragrances and 100 percent naturally derived ingredients approved by mothers and doctors, the brand has stuck to the core community principles of trust, transparency, and inclusivity.

In fact, the branding, each element of the text (reviews, too) and pricing was done through popular voting with mothers in our community across over 1,700 cities and towns in India.

HS: You aim to be the fastest-growing baby brand to hit a Rs 100 crore revenue? How are you going to achieve this? What are your other plans/launches for this year?

NS: Our strategy for growth is doubling down on digital, with the know-how of the group supporting us in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketplace and expanding to offline from the next quarter.

The channel expansion and know-how on channel leverage is an immediate boost to our toplines. Besides, our NPD and community teams are ensuring a healthy pipeline of innovations. We are launching category essentials timely to keep up with the needs of mothers and seasonal trends. 

HS: It’s less than a year since BabyChakra was acquired by The Good Glamm Group. What has changed? Are you moving forward with a new vision?

NS: In August 2021, BabyChakra was acquired by MyGlamm to build India’s largest parenting platform and invest Rs 100 crore in mom-baby-content-to-commerce in the next three years. 

Since then, BabyChakra has been working on this shared vision and made a bold move with its first acquisition in March 2022 with Tinystep. 

This strategic move was made to expand BabyChakra’s regional footprint across nine new languages in India, with a target to reach 75 million moms by the end of 2022.

Today, BabyChakra reaches 39 million mothers and 10,000 doctors. Moreover, through this social asset buyout, the brand has acquired a rich base of 40,000 multilingual content assets.

Now, with the content and creator stack, BabyChakra’s foray into D2C baby care products is a step toward achieving the goal it had set out as a brand.

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HS: What kind of growth are you looking at?

NS: We are looking at hitting a Rs 100 crore annual run rate (ARR) by the end of this financial year.

Hence, we are looking at a minimum of 30 percent monthly growth. Equally, on our user front, we are looking at reaching 75 million mothers by the end of 2022. 

HS: Tell us what’s happening on the community front, which has been your strong point? Anything new?

NS: Unlike other platforms, we are building an ecosystem of care for mothers. So, once a mother is on BabyChakra, she is plugged into a personal platform, where she can connect with other mothers, experts, and care providers best suited for her.

Recently, we conducted Season 2 of our search for the face of BabyChakra “Momstar Ki Khoj” for mums across India who represent the values of our community and received over 10,000 participants and votes.

Besides, today, we are the community and content partners to Flipkart for the toys and baby category. We are also doubling down on our doctor and care partnerships by expanding our doctor community from Mumbai and Delhi to eight cities across India.