Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumer becomes first unicorn of 2022 after latest funding round

Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. (HCPL), the parent company of Mamaearth has become the first unicorn of 2022 and the latest entrant to the coveted club after it closed a $52 million funding round led by Sequoia Global.

The round witnessed participation by some existing investors such as Sofina Ventures SA, the Belgium-based investment company, and some new funds like Evolvence, a UAE based India focused fund. The round also gave employees an opportunity to monetize their vested ESOP.

The company said it plans to deploy the funds "towards expanding their portfolio of personal care D2C brands venturing into new avenues with unique propositions."

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"The newly acquired funds will be directed towards product innovation, distribution, and marketing of brands in Honasa's stable. Along with launching new brands, Honasa will continue to aggressively expand distribution for existing brands -Mamaearth and The Derma Co. and explore strategic inorganic growth opportunities in the beauty and personal care segment," the company said in a statement.
 
Commenting on the development, Varun Alagh, Co-Founder and CEO, Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. said, "We will be deploying the funds towards brand launches, expanding distribution, inorganic growth and expanding the current portfolio across borders. Sequoia, Sofina and Evolvence have unique strengths in US, Europe & GCC respectively which will help us grow internationally & learn from others in these markets." 

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Commenting on the investment, Ghazal Alagh, Co-Founder and CIO, Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. said, "The recent round will empower us to fuel our innovation funnel and provide a wider assortment of problem-solving personal care products for millennials we closed will further provide impetus to our innovation funnel and help us serve our consumers with a wider assortment of products." 

Based in Delhi, Honasa was founded by Varun and Ghazal Alagh in 2016. Where Varun is an industry veteran, who worked at Unilever, Coca-Cola, and Diageo, Ghazal is a serial entrepreneur.