Nykaa, a name that is very well known to everyone around the globe. Nykaa is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Nayika’ which means actress. The name itself portrays and inspires women. The person behind this famous and successful company is Falguni Nayar.
She is an Indian businesswoman born on 19th February,1963 in Mumbai. Falguni Nayar is the founder and CEO of Nykaa and the person behind the success of an online makeup venture. Nayar is one of the wealthiest self-made female Indian billionaires and is in the top 20 richest people of India with an estimated wealth of $6.5 billion.
Whenever there is a talk about the wealthiest women in India, it is the name of Falguni Nayar that is always on the female entrepreneur list with the success and growth rate at the topmost peak. She has not only gained popularity, fame, and success for herself and her family but also, has made her country India proud of her.
Early life and education
She has made India shine bright like a star across the world and is continuing to do so.
Falguni Nayar belongs to a Gujarati family and was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra. She pursued her MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Her family was into business for a long time and her father ran a small company, assisted by her mother. Entrepreneurship and business ran in her blood, and she too knew it from the start and had a keen interest in business and wanted to start her own business even with a small amount of money.
She was married to Sanjay Nayar in 1987 whom she met at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad during her MBA days and they are blessed with 2 twin children, a son, and a daughter.
Must read: Journey of a boy from Mumbai slums to Millionaire
Falguni Nayar Career
Talking about Falguni Nayar’s career, initially, she worked in A.F Ferguson & Co as a manager and then in Kotak Mahindra group in 1993 for a span of 19 years and in 2005, she became the managing director of Kotak Mahindra group but left the company in 2012. And in the same year, she founded Nykaa along with her own $2 million.
She took a risk while quitting her job at Kotak which was running quite well. Though she started her business at a risk but was fully confident and was full of adventure. And this vigour made her shine bright in the field of business and hence got her name listed in one of the richest people in India.
In 2012, there was no online retail store for makeup and personal care products, Nayar started Nykaa focusing on the beauty retail business. She runs 35 physical stores successfully along with the online business. The headquarters of Nykaa is in Mumbai where she was born and brought up.
Today, Nykaa is a company that has touched the highest peak in personal wellness and care, and beauty and is successfully opening its luxury stores in various places.
It is because of Falguni Nayar that most of the international luxury brands have been brought to India which became easy and gave a wide variety to the Indian customers to choose from their favorite products.
Asia’s Power Businesswomen
Falguni Nayar has won various awards for her impeccable contribution and immensely hard work. She won ‘The most powerful women in business’ in the year 2017 by Business Today. And also, ‘Women Ahead’ by Economic Times Startup Awards in the same year, that is in 2017.
She also got her name listed in 2019 Forbes Asia as one of Asia’s Power Businesswomen. And Businessperson of the year 2019 by Vogue India. In a very short span of time, she has touched heights of success. And growth and Nykaa became a profitable company, and it is still loved by the people.
In an interview with The Economic Times in 2017, she said, “The company ran on family funds for two years because I didn’t want to raise money.” I wanted to make the metrics happen. We had good momentum by the time I went to investors. We had access since my husband, and I were both bankers. Nykaa is a company that is very profitable, a rare case among Indian startups.
There are more than 1600 members in the team and more than 1500 brands in the company, along with its own private brand which is easily available both in online mode as well as offline stores in India.
Investors of Nykaa
Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif is the investor at Nykaa. And reports in November 2021 have confirmed that she too had a high profit.
Falguni’s beauty empire has also made a huge profit this month in the stock market. And as per the reports of Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Falguni Nayar is India’s newest self-made billionaire.
Nykaa has 15 investors and there are 6 lead investors.
Lead investors of Nykaa
- Fidelity Management and Research Company
- Katrina Kaif
- Alia Bhatt
- Lighthouse Funds
- Steadview Capital
- TPG Growth
- Sharrp Ventures
- Sunil Kant Munjal
Acquisitions of Nykaa
Nykaa has acquired 3 popular organizations. Their most recent acquisition was Dot & Key Wellness on Oct 22, 2021. Below are the list of organizations.
- Dot & Key Wellness
- Pipa.Bella
- 20Dresses
Inspiration to all women
Falguni Nayar is a true inspiration to all the women who have the potential. And caliber to touch heights of success but lack self-confidence and motivation. Nayar with her immense efforts and the idea of building up a beauty retail business make it very clear that if one is determination, anything can accomplish.
The myth that only a man can be a successful businessman and become a billionaire. Falguni Nayar is a budding example who has refuted it. And has proved that success and hard work pays off and doesn’t see any gender.
Falguni Nayar says, “Think big but start small.” She got her inspiration from successful entrepreneurs such as UTV’s Ronnie Screwvala and Ajay Bijli of PVR cinemas.
In an interview, Falguni said that she loves makeup a lot. Though, she has the deep instinct that Indian women need an online platform for cosmetics and personal wellness. She also aimed at bringing up the gap and women’s outlook for women’s shopping and she successfully accomplished it. With her self-determination and hard work, she now has a singular identification in the market.
She has a deep passion for her dream and its fulfillment. And will continue reaching heights of success and make her family and her country proud in the world.
Key points about Nykaa
Nykaa is a popular online marketplace for different beauty items and wellness products.
Address: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. 1001-5000.
Nykaa Website: www.nykaa.com
According to G2 Stack, Nykaa is using 55 technology 55 technology products and services including HTML5, Google Analytics, and jQuery.
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