Bombay Shaving Company (BSC), a homegrown Indian personal care and hair removal brand, has raised INR 50 Cr from Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), as part of a follow-up to its INR 160 Cr Series C led by Malabar. This brings the total round size to INR 210 Cr. The funding comes 11 months after the company received INR 45 Cr from Reckitt, a global FMCG behemoth in the health, hygiene, and nutrition sectors. The company is uniquely capitalized, with two global, strategic behemoths on their cap table-Colgate Palmolive and Reckitt Benckiser.

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"We appreciate the company's emphasis on hair removal and personal care as a category." There is first-mover advantage in this market, and the company has demonstrated strengths in developing innovative products. "We are delighted to be working with Shantanu and his team," said Pankaj Gupta and Mohammed Alhassan, Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of Gulf Islamic Investments (GII). In the next two years, the company plans to scale operations to INR 500 Cr top line with an omnichannel presence, and the funds will be used to expand its portfolio of personal care and hair removal products. GII will also be strategically positioned to provide access to GCC markets in addition to the company's existing domestic market expertise.

Shaving regimens, trimmers, beard products, razors for women, wax strips, hair removal creams, and other personal care products and accessories are all on the list. (Representational Image) | Unsplash

BSC was founded in 2016 as a premium, direct-to-consumer (D2C) shaving regimen brand and has since expanded into various hair removal categories. BSC entered the women's hair removal market in 2020 with their brand 'Bombay Shaving Company-Women,' which now accounts for nearly 25 percent of the total business. It has a diverse product portfolio of over 100 SKUs, including hair removal products for both men and women. Shaving regimens, trimmers, beard products, razors for women, wax strips, hair removal creams, and other personal care products and accessories are all on the list. In the six years since its inception, BSC has served over 3 million customers through various channels. With its finger on the pulse of its customers, the brand is perceived as conscious, sensitive, and responsible.

"We are delighted to welcome GII to our cap table." We are solely committed to creating a brand that owns hair removal and personal care. "As we grew from INR 150 Cr to 500 Cr and 1000 Cr, we needed an investor group to help us build an IPO-ready company," said Shantanu Deshpande, BSC's founder and CEO. "Interactions with GII were always focused on the right things – the customer, the product experience, and the team quality," he continued. This is the company's sixth round of funding, with Reckitt, Colgate Palmolive, Sixth Sense Venture Partners, and industry heavyweights (including former TCS vice-chairman S Ramadorai and 16 senior partners from McKinsey & Company) as investors. (IANS/SP)

(Keywords: Bombay Shaving Company, investment, brand, personal care, hair removal, customers, trimmers, beard products, razors, wax strips, women, men, business, strategy, global.)