Mumbai-based cosmetics start-up Sugar has raised USD 2 million (approx Rs 14.68 crore) in a Series C funding round led by Stride Ventures. Series C financing (also known as Series C round) is one of the stages in the capital-raising process by a start-up. ”Stride Ventures… led a debt round of USD 2 million in Sugar Cosmetics … The fund has partnered with one of India’s leading private banks for this deal and is committed to being a strategic partner in Sugar’s growth journey with their customised offerings and deep relationships across banks and corporates,” Stride Ventures said in a statement.

Vineeta Singh, Co-founder and CEO, Sugar Cosmetics said: ”Sugar plays in a high gross margin category which makes debt a fantastic choice for us. ”With superior product-market fit and long-term growth appetite, we are excited about working with Stride and their partner private bank and announce USD 2 million as the first tranche of the Series C funding that we hope to close later this year,” Singh said.

Stride Ventures said this is the tenth investment from its maiden fund and marks its first foray into the lifestyle segment. ”The investment in Sugar reinforces Stride’s continuing preference for homegrown start-ups that have shown strong company fundamentals. Apart from a 6X jump in revenues in 2 years, Sugar’s hybrid approach, with a robust online as well as offline presence across 2,400 outlets in over 130 cities and strong brand loyalty makes it an attractive proposition,” it added.

Stride Ventures said these funds will be strategically deployed to keep pace with Sugar Cosmetics' working capital and inventory requirements and fuel aggressive growth through the peak sales season. Launched in 2015 by IIM-Ahmedabad graduates Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee, the brand is a cruelty-free and content-led beauty brand that targets the younger Indian demographic through its range of affordable premium products.

In FY20, the company clocked net revenues of Rs 105 crore. Stride Ventures launched its maiden fund in 2019 and plans to invest in 25-30 startups for Stride Venture India Fund I.