Investment firm Playbook Partners spearheads $30 million Series C funding for Renee Cosmetics
Renee Cosmetics Secures $30 Million in Series C Funding
Renee Cosmetics, a D2C beauty startup focused on makeup and skincare innovation, has raised $30 million in its Series C funding round. This round was led by Playbook Partners, with additional participation from Spark Capital's Spark Midas Investment Fund - I through secondary share purchases. The funding round valued the company at approximately $200 million.
The funding round was a mix of primary and secondary transactions, with Spark Capital participating via its late-stage, pre-IPO focused vehicle. Playbook Partners led the round, and existing investors like Evolvence India and Edelweiss also participated.
Co-founder Ashutosh Valani commented that the capital will be used to scale the marketing engine and optimize consumer acquisition costs. The funding will also be used to expand the product portfolio, scale omnichannel presence, invest in technology, and brand-building initiatives.
Renee Cosmetics has a portfolio of over 200 SKUs, including lipsticks, eyeshadows, nail polishes, mascaras, eyeliners, skin serums, highlighters, and perfumes. The company aims to use the fresh capital to strengthen offline distribution and enhance online marketplace reach via platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, and Nykaa. Renee currently has presence in over 15,000 offline retail outlets and is piloting international sales in the US, UAE, and Australia.
The founders behind Renee Cosmetics are Ashutosh Valani, Priyank Shah, and Aashka Goradia Goble. The company has demonstrated strong growth, with reported revenue tripling in the past 18 months and an annualized revenue run rate of around Rs 500 crore (~$60 million). The company aims to achieve Rs 1,000 crore ARR in the next two years.
The funding will also allow for fast-tracking of R&D and rolling out cutting-edge formats that blend performance with global beauty trends, according to Goble, the co-founder and chief marketing officer.
In summary, the Series C funding round led by Playbook Partners and with Spark Capital’s significant secondary investment is aimed at accelerating Renee Cosmetics’ expansion both offline and online, enhancing product innovation, and leveraging marketing and technology to drive further growth and conversion efficiency.
[1] VCCEdge, the data research platform of our website, provides the data for the above facts.
[2] Data for Renee Cosmetics' net sales and losses in FY24 is not available in the provided bullet points.
[3] The founding year of Renee Cosmetics is listed as 2020 in the provided bullet points.
- With the fresh influx of $30 million from Series C funding, Renee Cosmetics plans to invest in personal-finance areas such as scaling marketing, optimizing consumer acquisition costs, expanding product portfolio, increasing omnichannel presence, and brand-building initiatives, demonstrating a commitment to their business growth.
- Alongside strengthening offline distribution and online marketplace reach, Renee Cosmetics intends to leverage technology to elevate their performance and align with global beauty trends, underscoring their focus on education-and-self-development and technology in their sector.
- As Renee Cosmetics continues to triplet its revenue every 18 months, achieving an annualized revenue run rate of around Rs 500 crore (~$60 million), and looks towards Rs 1,000 crore ARR in the next two years, an emphasis on finance and investing seems crucial for their long-term success within the lifestyle industry.
- The Series C funding round, led by Playbook Partners and featuring Spark Capital’s substantial secondary investment, aims to enable Renee Cosmetics to accelerate their presence in offline and online markets, enhance product innovation, and leverage marketing and technology to further drive growth and conversion efficiency – a move that closely ties in with the company's vision and entertainment appeal.
