India’s beauty and personal care brand Pilgrim has raised Rs 200 crore ($23 million), at a valuation of $345 million, in a mix of primary and secondary funding.
The round saw participation from existing investors Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office, Vertex Ventures SEA & India, and Mirabilis Investment Trust, alongside new investors Vertex Growth Fund and Anicut Equity Continuum Fund.
Pilgrim, which combines globally sourced natural ingredients with scientific formulations, said the fresh capital will be used to deepen its offline presence and enhance research & development capabilities, and accelerate its growth and market expansion in India and beyond.
Launched in 2020 by IIT alumni Anurag Kedia and Gagandeep Makker, Pilgrim claims to have a gross Annual Run Rate (ARR) exceeding Rs 800 crore. It offers more than 90 stock-keeping units across face care, haircare, and skincare products, and fragrances in over 25,000 pin codes. It offers a wide range of products curated with ingredients from France, Korea, Spain, Australia, the Amazon Rainforest, and Swiss glaciers.
The funding round comes less than a year after Pilgrim raised about $9 million in an extended Series B round led by Fireside and Vertex Ventures. In 2023, it raised $20 million in a Series B funding round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India.
Pilgrim competes with other Indian D2C beauty brands like Sugar Cosmetics, mCaffeine, Wow Skin Science, Renee Cosmetics, and Minimalist. The sector has attracted marquee investors including Peak XV Partners, Accel, Tiger Global, KKR, Westbridge, Panthera Growth, and Premji Invest which have backed high-profile brands such as Zenoti, Purplle, MyGlamm, Vini Cosmetics, and Foxtale.
There is a growing demand for homegrown beauty brands in India, bolstered by the boom in online shopping and social media consumption among Gen-Z consumers.
Earlier this year, Foxtale, a new-age D2C skincare brand in India, raised $30 million in a Series C funding round, while India’s Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) signed a deal to buy Peak XV-backed D2C beauty brand Minimalist for Rs 2,955 crore ($342.2 million).
Separately, India’s omnichannel beauty platform Purplle closed a Series F round at Rs 1,500 crore with a fresh investment tranche of Rs 500 crore in November, while Kindlife, an online marketplace for cruelty-free, environmentally-friendly beauty and wellness products, co-founded by former ShopClues founder Radhika Ghai, raised $8 million in a Series A round led by JB-Dooeun TK Fund and MIXI Global Investments.
