Brands
HCPL acquires a majority stake in skincare brand Dr. Sheth’s
Mumbai: The parent company of Mamaearth and The Derma Co., Honasa Consumer has acquired skincare brand Dr. Sheth’s. Through this acquisition, the company has control of the majority stake in Dr. Sheth’s at a valuation of Rs 28 crore. The primary round of funds will be directed to accelerate future growth of the brand.
While Honasa Consumers will have control of the majority stake in Dr. Sheth’s, Dr Aneesh Sheth will continue to lead the business and product innovation for the brand.
The products of Dr Sheth’s have been developed with expertise accrued by three generations of accomplished cosmetologists and dermatologists. The products are formulated knowing that Indian skin is unique and requires specialized care. The brands’ product portfolio has solutions for skin concerns like pigmentation, acne, dryness, wrinkles, and many others. Some of the popular products by the brand are amla vc20 vitamin c serum, haldi and hyaluronic acid sleeping mask, cica and ceramide overnight repair serum, among others. With over 30+ Skus, the brand has catered to over 200,000 consumers.
Dr. Sharat Desai, probably India’s first dermatologist, worked to put India on the map for the field of dermatology. Following in the father’s footsteps, his daughter, Dr. Rekha Sheth, became India’s first cosmetic dermatologist and one of the preferred dermatologists by bollywood celebrities. Dr. Aneesh Sheth, PhD Pharmacology and an Ivy league trained cosmetic scientist, founded Dr. Sheth’s with the ambition of formulating skincare products using the knowledge aggregated over three generations and bringing the best of nature and science together.
Millennials are evolving and there is a growing appreciation for sophisticated ingredients. While they seek comfort in traditional Indian ingredients in skincare, they also want to go beyond the conventional and experiment. Sheth’s has identified this void and created a portfolio of products that blend natural ingredients with science-based active ingredients, providing the best of both worlds. With a digital-first approach Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. has established its leadership in understanding millennial consumer behavior and launching and successfully scaling consumer brands with a strong millennial connect. The expertise of Dr. Sheth’s in creating specialized skincare for Indian consumers, coupled with the digital expertise of HCPL, will help scale the business of Dr. Sheth’s and further strengthen the leadership of HCPL in digital-first brands.
Honasa Consumer co-founder and CEO Varun Alagh said, “Dr. Sheth’s is a brand that is synonymous with heritage and legacy, and we are excited about this partnership as it will help us widen our portfolio offerings under the HCPL umbrella. It will be a symbiotic relationship wherein there will be knowledge sharing across brands and collaboratively build the brand and its product portfolio.”
“Being a house of brands, Honasa Consumer has attained expertise in building millennial brands with a digital-first approach. We will utilize our expertise and proficiency in digital marketing to accelerate the growth and scale growth for Dr. Sheth’s and we are confident that we will make it a 100 crores run rate brand in two years. HCPL & Dr. Sheth’s synergize on fundamental ideologies of distinctive product innovation and strong millennial connect, we are confident this collaboration will be a success for consumers and for both brands,” he added.
Commenting on the partnership Aneesh Sheth said, “We are very excited about the partnership with HCPL – they bring a level of operational excellence that will make our expertise and our products accessible to a wider community. Their experience as a house of brands will also help us optimize our innovation and bring about a great range of skincare that combines the best of both worlds – science and nature.”
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
