The world has seen a disproportionate amount of stress, anxiety and job losses in the past year owing to the pandemic, and women have borne the worst brunt of it. Amidst news and media content filled with negativity and building hopelessness, here’s some news that we can all draw some positivity and inspiration from! Falguni Nayar, founder of the cosmetic online retail chain Nykaa, is all set to become a billionaire.
Nayar Is Set To Be India’s Second-Richest Self-Made Woman
Nayar, an IIM Ahmedabad alumni, will be on the top of India’s list of richest self-made women, second only to Biocon’s head Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.
Nykaa, founded by Nayar in 2012, is expecting to report a 40% rise in revenue at the end of the quarter in March 2021. The company is preparing for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) worth $3 billion by the end of this year. Nykaa will be listed in the financial markets for purchase of equity shares post the IPO. Nayar, herself, owns around 51% shares of the company, with its investors including big names like Fidelity Management and TPG Growth Capital.
Falguni Nayar was a former Managing Director at Kotak Mahindra Investment Banking. Having worked as a banker for almost 17 years, she quit her job in 2012 to start out on her own. Falguni started Nykaa after recognising the strength of the beauty industry, and decided to tap into the market with India’s homegrown version of a Sephora.
The company has grown from strength to strength, and has quickly become one of the leading brands. Falguni built the company on the principles of honesty and integrity towards Nykaa’s investors and customers.
She also focused on ensuring that Nykaa grew to become not just a retailer but also an influencer in the minds of its largely young consumers.
Nayar Created Nykaa With The Hope To Create Something That Would Have An Impact And Inspire Other Women
In her own words, Falguni created Nykaa not with money on her mind, but was driven by the desire to create something of her own that had long term sustainability. Falguni recalls, in one of her interviews with Film Companion, how in the initial days of creating Nykaa, she was addicted to looking at all the consumer orders herself – sometimes even waking up in the middle of the night to track them. She continued doing this till the orders reached about three thousand per day. Her passion and dedication drove her to being there for her brainchild day and night, and her efforts are paying off.
Falguni recognised the need for her customer to have a touch and feel of the product they’re buying, and opened her first store in Delhi in 2015. Nykaa has only grown since then, and has become a unicorn in the last year, raising a total of $70 million in primary funding. To add some buzz to its name, Nykaa has tied up with Katrina Kaif’s Kay ventures to offer a new cosmetics line.
Falguni was inspired by the poem Inthika by C.P. Cavafy before she started Nykaa. She says it is one of her favourite lines from the poem – “enjoy every minute of the business” – that has become her mantra while running the company. She hopes to provide confidence to more women and encourage them to follow their own aspiration before anything else, through her endeavour.
Here’s hoping that more women are inspired by the glorious journey of Falguni and Nykaa, and strive to make themselves as proud as Falguni must be feeling today!
You’re invited! Join the Kool Kanya women-only career Community where you can network, ask questions, share your opinions, collaborate on projects, and discover new opportunities. Join now.
