Bombay Shaving’s owner Visage Lines raises fresh funds in a round led by Reckitt Benckiser

Visage Lines Personal Care Pvt Ltd, owner of grooming brand, Bombay Shaving Company, has raised fresh funds to the tune of ₹45 crore in the latest round, which was led by Reckitt Benckiser (RB).

This will be the fifth round of financing for the start-up, which also saw participation from individual HNIs such as Rajesh Sud from Bharti Enterprises, Anjali Bansal, Founder of Avaana Capital, and Kuldeep Jain, Managing Director of CleanMax Energy.

Arjun Purkayastha, RB’s Senior Vice-President, e-commerce, Digital and Ventures, will also join the board of Visage Lines.

Launched in 2016, the grooming brand, Bombay Shaving Company currently has a portfolio of over 100 products across shaving, bath and body, skin, and beard care. Visage Lines said that RB’s strategic investment will support its plans to scale up its operations and enable it to get access to the global scale, expertise, and mentorship of RB, which is known for brands such as Dettol and Lizol.

Plans to launch 3 brands

Shantanu Deshpande, founder CEO of Visage Lines, said the company plans to use the funds to launch three new independent consumer brands in addition to Bombay Shaving Company, this year. “The funds will also be used to grow the core business of Bombay Shaving Company by ramping up its offline retail distribution. We will also put in significant amount of investments in product development and R&D,” he added.

The company said working with strategic partners over the long term will give it “significant leverage” in establishing itself in the Indian consumer ecosystem. Visage Lines also aims to grow its annual sales to ₹150 crore in the next fiscal year.

Purkayastha said: “Our investment represents a commitment to bring the best of two worlds together — Bombay Shaving Company’s expertise in digital-first brands with strong e-commerce capabilities and RB’s expertise in branding, manufacturing, and global scale.”

In the past funding rounds, the grooming brand has raised investments from the likes of Colgate Palmolive, Sixth Sense Venture Partners and other prominent angel investors.