Highlights:
- Falguni Nayar launched her company Nykaa in 2012, after a career in investment banking.
- Falguni Nayar’s company, FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd, which owns the e-commerce site Nykaa, raised $53.5 billion through its IPO.
Falguni Nayar joined the club of self-made billionaire women last week, when the Indian beauty startup she started went public and instantly doubled on its trading debut.
Nayar is the CEO of India’s FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd., which raised 53.5 billion rupees ($720 million) in its initial public offering (IPO) and had its shares climb 96% on the first day of trade. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Nayar, who owns over half of the firm, is worth nearly $7 billion, making her India’s wealthiest self-made female billionaire.
“Women need to allow the spotlight of their lives to be on themselves,” According to Bloomberg, Nayar stated this in an interview following the trading debut. “I hope more women, like myself, would dare to dream for themselves.”
After working in investment banking and mentoring other entrepreneurs through the IPO process, Nayar started her firm, which runs the e-commerce site Nykaa, in 2012. Back then, most Indian women purchased cosmetics and hair-care items from neighbourhood mom-and-pop shops, where the range was limited and trials were unheard of. She identified a potential in providing people with simple internet access to high-end cosmetic products, complete with tutorials and testimonials.
“India is going to be a huge retail market,” Nayar said. “Indians will aspire for more; their spending power will grow and they’ll increasingly spend on lifestyle brands and services. Nykaa is in a good place.”
Since then, the startup has grown into the country’s biggest beauty retailer, strengthening online sales with demo videos featuring attractive Bollywood actresses and celebrities and more than 70 brick-and-mortar stores. Nykaa, which is derived from the Sanskrit word for heroine, provides things such as exfoliating treatments, bridal cosmetic essentials, and hundreds of lipsticks, foundation, and nail colour shades to fit Indian skin tones, local weather and skin types.
According to Nayar, there will be plenty more opportunities in the future. Men are beginning to spend money on cosmetics and grooming goods in this country of 1.3 billion people.
“We created the firm for multi-year growth in order to address India’s large beauty and fashion e-commerce industry,” she explained.
Nykaa is part of a new wave of Indian entrepreneurs that are venturing into public markets. In July, Zomato Ltd., a food-delivery company, sparked the rush, signaling that investors will invest in high-growth companies even if they were unprofitable. Paytm, India’s premier digital payments company, said on Wednesday that its $2.5 billion IPO, the country’s largest, had been completely subscribed.
“Indian e-commerce platforms such as Nykaa and Zomato are growing, “Nayar stated. “Global-standard firms founded by Indian entrepreneurs and created by Indian engineers to satisfy Indian consumers’ appetites.”
While clearly happy with the good IPO launch, Nayar was positive about the impact on her net worth.
“It doesn’t really matter how big the prize is,” she stated. “The key is to get rewarded for doing what I enjoy. Share prices are the bonus.”
