Nykaa Founder Falguni Nayar Started at 50; With $6.5 Billion, She is Now Among World’s Richest

Nykaa shares saw a stellar debut on Dalal Street on Wednesday, November 10. Nykaa share opened at Rs 2,001 on BSE, an increase of 77.87 per cent premium over the higher end of the issue price. On NSE, Nykaa stock opened made a debut at Rs 2,018, up over 79.83 per cent. On the day, FSN E-Commerce, Nykaa’s parent company, also became the first woman-led unicorn to debut at the stock market in India.

In 2012, Nayar, who was just months away from turning 50, came up with the idea of Nykaa — which was aimed at providing beauty products to women and men in the country online. Back then, Indians mostly relied on smaller, neighbourhood stores to buy beauty products. With the launch of Nykaa, cosmetics and skincare products were just a phone tap away and the range of options increased drastically with the introduction of international brands and those which were never heard of.

“The startup has since grown into the country’s leading beauty retailer, buoying online sales with demo videos by glamorous Bollywood actors and celebrities and more than 70 brick-and-mortar stores,” said a Bloomberg report. Nykaa, derived from a Sanskrit word meaning heroine, sells products of more than 300 domestic and international brands — including Maybelline, Lakme, L’Oréal and luxury brans like MAC, Huda Beauty and Estee Lauder. With a wide range of products like bridal make-up essentials and hundreds of shades of lipstick, foundation and nail color to suit the Indian market, Nykaa has steadily become the country’s top online beauty retailer over the years.

According to a Bloomberg report quoting Nykaa’s filings, its sales surged 35 per cent to $330 million in the year ended in March, making it a profitable company, which is rate among internet startups making a debut in the public markets.

After a long stint at the Kotak Mahindra Bank, where she ended as the managing director of investment banking, Falguni Nayar found immense success at Nykaa but still believed that the company has “a long way to go”. The brand has already started its venture into the fashion industry, and managed by her Ivy League-educated daughter and son who also are promoters to the company. Nykaa has also launched a cosmetic, skincare, haircare and intimate wear line of its own, backed up by its steady profit.