Sugar Cosmetics Success Story – The Cruelty-Free Beauty Brand

Sugar Cosmetics is one of the leading Indian cosmetic brands. It is growing at a rapid rate and the craze amongst the millennials for its products is just commendable. The brand refuses to categorize itself into any stereotype, thanks to its unique packaging, awesome products, and clutter-breaking attitude. Sugar Cosmetic’s best selling goods for lips, nails, skin, face, eyes, etc. are sent all over the world.

The brand is focused on making products that are cruelty-free and suits every Indian skin tone. The company is expanding not just in India but in foreign countries as well. Its goal is to reach the doorsteps of every customer in the country and make them addicted to its products.

Sugar Cosmetics – Key Highlights

• Startup Name – Sugar Cosmetics
• Founders – Vineeta Singh, Kaushik Mukherjee
• Founding Year - 2012
• Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• Industry – Beaty, Cosmetics, Brand Marketing, E-commerce
• Current CEO – Vineeta Singh
• Also known as – Vellvette Lifestyle, Vellvette
• Revenue – Rs. 500 crore
• Website – www.sugarcosmetic.com

Sugar Cosmetics – Founders

Sugar Cosmetics founders are Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee.

• Vineeta Singh – Vineeta is now a household name after appearing as a judge on the popular show Shark Tank India. Singh is the co-founder and CEO of the company. She completed her engineering from IIT Madras and MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. She is also a triathlon, ultramarathon runner, and a TEDx speaker.
• Kaushik Mukherjee – Kaushik is the co-founder of Suagr Cosmetcis. He completed his engineering from BITS Pilani and then joined IIM Ahmedabad for MBA. This is where he met his wife and business partner, Vineeta Singh. Kaushik is also a marathon runner, a TEDx speaker, and an Ironman triathlete.

Sugar Cosmetics – Brand Name, Logo, and Tagline

• Brand Name – According to Vineeta Singh, she wanted a simple and user-friendly brand name for her company. She wanted a name that is easier to remember for the customers and should be memorable as well.
• Logo – The company’s logo is in black and white and it is made up of an emblem on the left. It signifies the brand and appears on all the cosmetics of the company.
• Tagline – The company’s tagline is – Rule the World, One Look At a Time!

Sugar Cosmetics – Business Model

The company operates in more than 130 locations all over India and they have a presence in more than 10000 sales outlets. In the previous 3 years, the company's income got increased by more than 7 times. The company made a strong presence in this massive beauty industry and overcame a severe pandemic by reorganizing the team, slashing expenses, e-commerce push, etc. They also utilized the power of social media in a very effective way and the results are in front of our eyes.

Sugar Cosmetics – Revenue Model

Sugar Cosmetic grew from 80 to over 1900 retail touchpoints in only 3 years. They earned a net income of more than Rs. 130 crores in the FY21 and they aim to increase their goal to more than Rs. 200 crore by the end of next FY.

Sugar Cosmetics – Funding and Investments

Sugar Cosmetics has raised a total investment of INR 35.5 crores in the past few years. Some of the funding and investments gained by the company are as follows:

• $21 million – Series C Round – A91 Partners, Elevation Capital, India Quotient, Stride Ventures – Oct 21, 2020
• $12 million – Series B Round – A91 Partners, Anicut Capital, India Quotient – Mar 8, 2019
• $2.5 million – Series A Round – India Quotient, RB Investments Pte. Ltd. – Jun 1, 2017

Sugar Cosmetics – Growth

Some of the growth seen by the company are as follows:

• The company increased its operations by 6 times in the previous 2 to 3 fiscal years.
• Their operating income increased by 90% in FY21.
• During FY21, it generated over Rs. 2 crores from its financial assets.
• They saw a boost in their social media presence by enhancing their content and videos creating strategies.

Sugar Cosmetics – Competitors

Sugar Cosmetics is one of the leading companies in the beauty industry. But the company has many strong competitors in the market. Some of them are as follows:

• Maybelline
• Lakme
• Nykaa
• Kay Beauty
• L’oreal
• Nyx
• Swiss Beauty
• Faces Canada
• M.A.C Cosmetics
• e.l.f Cosmetics

Sugar Cosmetics – Challenges Faced

Sugar Cosmetics had to face various challenges before reaching where they are now. They didn’t achieve all this fame and love from their customers overnight. Some of the challenges faced by the company are as follows:

• Pandemic – The current pandemic has hit every company very badly and some of the startups had to suffer a lot. Sugar Cosmetics's 60% of the revenue was already dependent on the retail outlets and thus lockdown 1.0 was a big setback for the company. They had to go through various changes such as wage cuts, employment reshuffles, etc. to survive during the hard times.
• Competitors – The company is doing very well in the beauty industry but they have over 100 competitors whom they need to overshadow. Some of them are very prestigious companies and it is hard to shift their loyal customers.

Sugar Cosmetics – Future Plans

Some of the plans of the company are as follows:

• They are planning to increase their offline standalone stores in India. They are currently managing 130 outlets and they plan to increase this number to more than 150 by the end of the financial year 2023.
• Sugar Cosmetics will soon expand its business outside India. They already have stores in Russia and a good online presence in the USA. They want to expand in other countries as well.
• They also want to double its net revenue by the end of this financial year.
• They want to enhance their retail base by improving their visual merchandising experience and retail marketing.
• In the coming days, Sugar Cosmetics will also focus on expanding its mobile-based application. It already has 1 million-plus download in just 1 year.
• They also want to focus on strong alliances, digital media, content marketing, etc.