STARTUP WOMAN .. Woman Ahead
A Beautiful Way
to Make Your Billions Here
Falguni Nayar took international beauty products to the
doorsteps of Indian online buyers
ET-Facebook Woman Ahead
Falguni Nayar
Nykaa
For Falguni Nayar, CEO of Nykaa, the switch from the rarified
world of investment banking to the finicky world of online beauty retailing has
been smooth. That smooth transition is probably the main reason why the jury of
The Economic Times Startup Awards 2017 chose her as the winner of the “Woman
Ahead“ category. “I am really happy for the recognition given to me and the
entire team at Nykaa. A lot of hard work has been put into the business over
the last few years and this shows that it is being recognised,“ a thrilled Falguni
Nayar told ET. “It's almost like an indication that Nykaa is on the right
track. Earlier, it was only our numbers but now it is in comparison with others
so it feels great.“
An IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, Nayar founded Nykaa in 2012 after
quitting as MD of Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, where she had spent 18 years.
Nykaa curates a variety of beauty products and provides customers with content
from makeup tutorials to reviews and expert recommendations.
Nayar's business acumen can be gauged from Nykaa's numbers which
defy the sluggishness enveloping the Indian ecommerce space. Revenues have
risen over 1,100% to `214 crore in FY17 from just `17 crore in FY15, even as
Nayar has been able to steadily grow the user base to 2.5 million from the
3,00,000 users two years ago. “We wanted significant scale and we went for it,“
she says.
Nayar can be credited with making international beauty products
available for the Indian masses through Nykaa's partnership with American
cosmetics giant Estee Lauder to launch their basket of products, including
those of MAC, Clinique and Bobbi Brown, late last year.
“Laying your own path and knowing what not to do is important.
It's also equally important to be bold and do things that have not been done
before,“ is Nayar's advice to young entrepreneurs. “Startups should not
constrained by the existing business models and must do things that haven't
been done before.“
Nayar's flair for the business has earned Nykaa the love of
India Inc in the form of investors with over $25 million raised from the likes
of Sunil Munjal, Harsh Mariwala, Atul Nishar, TVS Capital Funds and Max
Ventures among others.
Jul 24 2017 : The Economic Times (Mumbai)
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