Bombay Shaving Company raises Rs 45 crore in a round led by Reckitt Benckiser

Bombay Shaving Company, Charcoal Festive Pamper Kit

British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser has led a Rs 45-crore funding round in Visage Lines Personal Care Pvt Ltd, the parent firm of men's grooming brand Bombay Shaving Company.

The round also saw participation from high net worth individuals such as Rajesh Sud from Bharti Enterprises, Anjali Bansal founder of Avaana Capital and Kuldeep Jain, Managing Director of CleanMax Energy.

“Reckitt Benckiser has an excellent record in building health and wellness brands over their 200 years heritage. Working in partnership, our young team is ambitious for what we can achieve together and scale our operations with an omnichannel presence,” said Shantanu Deshpande, founder CEO of Visage Lines.

The company will utilise the funds to scale up operations. Launched in 2016, it has a portfolio of more than 100 products across shaving, bath and body, skin, and beard care.

Arjun Purkayastha,  Reckitt Benckiser's  Senior Vice President, e-commerce, Digital, and Ventures will join the Visage Lines board.

The company plans to scale its operations to Rs 150 crore top line in the next fiscal. They are also expanding in offline retail distribution as the post-COVID footfalls ramp up.

“As we build omni-channel revenue streams, we are cognisant that brands will be scaled through strong digital and retail distribution. Working with strategic partners over the long term will give us significant leverage in establishing ourselves in the Indian consumer ecosystem,” said Deepak Gupta, Chief Business Officer at Visage Lines.

This will be the fifth round of financing for the company that has been invested in by Sixth Sense Venture Partners, Colgate Palmolive, among others. In 2019, the company had also created Rs 20 crore of exit for early angels and employees.