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Mahesh Bhupathi's Personal Care Company Scentials Raises $6 Mn From TIW Private Equity The company plans to expand its product offerings and strengthen its distribution network across the country

By Prabhjeet Bhatla

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Mahesh Bhupathi

Beauty and wellness company Scentials Beauty Care and Wellness Pvt. Ltd, co-founded by former tennis professional and serial entrepreneur Mahesh Bhupathi along with Jinesh Mehta, announced on Tuesday to have raised $6 million from TIW Private Equity (TIW PE).

The funds will primarily focus on consumption-driven sectors across FMCG, media, education, digital platforms, financial services, and real estate.

"Building Beauty businesses with influencers have created a lot of value in the west and after Unilever Venture, we are proud to have TIW believe in this opportunity in India and will continue exploring growth categories," said Mahesh Bhupathi, co-founder, Scentials.

With the funding from TIW PE, the company plans to expand its product offerings and strengthen its distribution network across the country.

"We are very excited to partner with Scentials in its journey towards sustainable growth, backing it with significant investment. The company offers a unique and powerful value proposition with brands envisioned by top celebrities and superior quality products crafted by a team of specialists. The founders have built a solid launchpad bringing a fresh approach to the business and will benefit from the strategic and operational inputs that we bring to the table. We are confident that the business can grow exponentially from here on to become India's leading personal care business," shared Mohit Ralhan, managing partner, and chief investment officer, TIW PE.

Co-founded in 2017, the platform manufactures and distributes products through multiple celebrity-backed brands across deodorant, fragrances, and skincare categories.

The company designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes beauty and personal care brands that are driven by some of India's top celebrities including Salman Khan, Virat Kohli, and Lara Dutta.

"We are looking forward to welcoming TIW to the Scentials family, with their prior experience in investing into and growing business we are expecting to scale rapidly," commented Jinesh Mehta, co-founder, Scentials.

Winner of multiple Grand Slams, Mahesh Bhupathi, turned into a serial entrepreneur, founding and managing multiple businesses across sports, celebrity management, fashion, and personal care. Along with Jinesh Mehta, he has co-founded the platform, with an aim to build high quality and differentiated beauty business.

Family office Credence was the sole advisor to the deal.

"Scentials is building a beauty brands platform across categories with endorsements from top celebrities. There are multiple success stories of celebrity-led beauty brands and with the beauty platform Scentials has, it is well-positioned to offer curated products to a wider audience," stated Mitesh Shah, co-founder, and chief executive officer, Credence.

This is the second fundraise by Scentials. It has previously raised funding from Unilever Ventures, the venture capital arm of global FMCG major Unilever.

"Scentials has been a first mover in building influencer-led beauty brands which is still in its early days in India presenting a huge opportunity for the Scentials team. This fundraise will enable the company to accelerate growth with increased investments and entry into new categories," concluded Pawan Chaturvedi, investment director-Asia, Unilever Ventures.

Prabhjeet Bhatla

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