“Parabens, Phthalates, Sulphates, Bleach”
You must be thinking, “What The F Chemistry Is That???”
So did the parents of a new born child venturing out to get baby care products and finding these very harmful ingredients in them.
Naturally, they started preferring imported products from the USA. Soon enough, you guessed it correctly, they realised that it was expensive and inconvenient.
“Fair Enough” as one would think. So the couple did the next best *natural* thing that could occur to parents –
- Creating a babycare brand out of sheer persistence
- Getting into the Unicorn club in just 5 years
- Becoming India’s First Listed D2C Brand
The parents in the picture are Ghazal & Varun Alagh and the brand is, of course, Mamaearth. And this is their story.
Giving Birth To Two Babies – A Son & A D2C Brand
In 2016, after their son was born, Varun Alagh and Ghazal Alagh struggled with choosing safe and non-toxic products for their baby like many parents.
Looking for safer alternatives, the Alaghs began ordering products from the US, but that naturally turned out to be more expensive and inconvenient.
Soon they realised that this struggle is not unique to them as parents so they did what most parents want – creating a babycare brand themselves!
“We are a generation of Google parents,” said Ghazal in interview with Inc42, adding that parents Google everything before buying it — right from feeding bottles, shampoos to the paediatrician.
After realising a big gap in the demand and supply for toxin-free baby care products, the duo started off with their research to find the right ingredients and vendors.
Then Came The Baby Steps Of Mamaearth
According to the cofounder Varun, one of the biggest challenges was to find manufacturing partners who were ready to work with their specified set of ingredients.
“We set up a series of meetings with vendors across the country, only to face numerous rejections. But, we didn’t give up until we found the perfect partners, particularly those who were catering to export markets and had strong ISO, WHO and JNB certifications already,” said Varun in a conversation with Inc42 back in 2020
How Mamaearth Went For The Cake Rather Than A Slice
Mamaearth began its journey with its native platform, as well as marketplace presence on Amazon and Flipkart among others.
Realising the potential of their products, founders expanded their brand to large-format retail stores such as Shoppers Stop, Central and standalone retail stories.
“Today, the brand is present in more 2 Lakh retail outlets”
However, standing out was a task of its own!
In India, a lot of D2C brands were competing at the time for the pie in the baby care segment.
BabyChakra, The Moms Co, newly listed D2C brand FirstCry, along with with personal care giants like Johnson & Johnson, Himalaya, Sebamed, Hindustan Unilever, ITC among others – the list goes on.
Seeing the intense competition in this lucrative segment – Mamaearth decided to branch out beyond baby care to meet a larger addressable base.
Overcoming The Pandemic Blues
While the covid-19 pandemic changed the equation completely for a lot of sectors – with runway questions and mass layoffs, D2C brands came out a bit
With growing investor interest, D2C startup funding grew multifold post the pandemic.
The funding came on the back of the changed habits of the Indian consumer who suddenly became more adept at trusting new age FMCG brands.
For Mamaearth, this period was all about going at full speed, despite the challenges.
“While most businesses went into dormant mode, with cost cutting and layoffs, we continued to advertise and sell essentials. The advertising cost was lesser and the competition was much lower, and we did not feel the need of cutting down on marketing spends,” Varun Alagh
How Mamaearth Embraced Rapid Growth Creating Aspirations Along The Way
Mamaearth’s parent company Honasa has raised $111 Mn+ till date and has backers such as Sequoia India, Stellaris Ventures, Fireside Ventures, Marico’s Rishabh Mariwala, Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, and Shilpa Shetty Kundra among others.
In Dec 2021, Sequoia Capital India (Now Peak XV) pumped $38 Mn into the D2C giant, thus making way for Mamaearth to enter the much sought after Unicorn club.
2 years later on October 31, 2023, Mamaearth went public creating huge returns for early investors Kunal Bahl, Rohit Bansal, Shilpa Shetty and Rishabh Mariwala.
Mamaearth has not only embraced this transition from being called a D2C brand to now being called a retail giant. It also led the way for several other D2C brands trying to follow suit.