Delhi-based mother and childcare products company Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd’s brand Mamaearth has announced that Bollywood celebrity, mother and entrepreneur – Shilpa Shetty Kundra has come on board as an equity investor.
Mamaearth is Asia’s first ‘MadeSafe’ certified brand offering toxin-free mother and childcare products. It aims to reduce parental stress, by providing natural and safe solutions. It was founded by husband-wife duo Varun and Ghazal Alagh after they became parents. The couple found that safety was a big concern for parents and decided to launch the company to focus on safe, toxin-free international standard products.
The first round of funding was led by Kanwaljit Singh and a few other investors in 2016. The company raised US $1 million in the second round of funding led by Fireside Ventures and other investors in 2017.
Mamaearth’s Co-Founder and Chief Dad, Varun Alagh, said, “We are very excited to have Shilpa on board as an investor. She is a seasoned entrepreneur, wellness ambassador, an experienced mother and most importantly, she understands the nuances of a business. Her investment in Mamaearth is a validation of our purpose and our capability to execute. With her personal involvement in Mamaearth, we expect to take our brand’s message of toxin-free parenting to a much larger audience. We already have more than 100K happy consumers across 121 cities and we expect to reach 250K consumers by the end of this year.”
Mamaearth has store presence in Delhi, Mumbai and, Bengaluru and plans to expand to 10 cities. The products are available on Amazon, Flipkart, Firstcry, Nykaa, and Mamaearth.in.
On her investment, Shilpa Shetty Kundra said, “I am really excited about my investment in Mamaearth. The brand is the future and so relevant for today’s India! Parents like me are always looking for the best in quality products for their children which are also “safe” and legit. I myself have been using the shampoo, oil and other products for my son Viaan-Raj for the last three months and totally love them. The Mamaearth philosophy, especially the use of natural and non-toxic, chemical free products, resonates perfectly with my green ideology as this does impact our lives in the long run. ”
On Shilpa’s investment, VS Kannan Sitaram, Venture Partner at Fireside Ventures said, “Together, Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Mamaearth will create new opportunities for the business and help the brand strengthen its purpose and reduce parental stress for more parents. As an investor, I believe there is always merit in partnering with people who are aligned with your culture and beliefs. This enables the brand to grow manifold.”
Ghazal Alagh, the co-founder and Chief Mom of Mamaearth said, “We are a ‘mum-powered’ company and work with a large number of mothers who are involved right from the ideation, conceptualization stage to developing the actual product. Our mum community has helped us come up with innovative products like easy Tummy Roll-on and Clean Cuties, which are based on little problems of parents that only mums understands. As our First Mum Shilpa will share her knowledge and experience with us which will help us at Mamaearth create more innovative and relevant products going forward.”
All of Mamaearth’s baby products are 100 percent toxin-free and certified by Madesafe.Org a Not-For-Profit based out of the USA with very strict testing criteria. Every product is dermatologist approved to be safe for sensitive skin. The entire range of products for children and mothers have undergone strict BIS testing to ensure they meet international standards.
