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Business Standard

M3M family office invests $20 million in beauty tech platform Kult

Realty major M3M's family office has invested $20 million in technology-driven beauty discovery platform Kult, taking up a 55 per cent equity stake, amid a boom in the Indian beauty market. Payal Kanodia and Aishwarya Bansal, part of the promoter family behind the M3M group, have joined the board of the start-up founded by Karishma Singh and Ruchika Pallavi. 'We have already invested $8 million as part of this round of $20 million,' Kanodia said in an interaction with Business Standard. The investment marks a substantial move by the M3M family office, which is now evaluating options for investments into start-ups across categories. India's beauty and personal care market is experiencing robust growth, projected to reach $30 billion by 2027, with the online segment constituting a substantial $10 billion. Mumbai-Thane-based Kult will compete with established players like Nykaa, Purplle, and MyGlamm to cater to the growing demand for customised skincare and beauty products as well as services. Kult's Singh said that the app aims to carve a distinct niche through its innovative AI-powered personalised skincare recommendations and inclusive shopping experience. It leverages artificial intelligence to offer tailored skincare advice and provides unique visual catalogues displaying products on diverse Indian skin tones. 'We have a panel of dermatologists and cosmetologists who will be advising customers on which products will suit their skin needs and which ones will not, by going through a product's ingredients — which no other platform provides today,' Singh said. The funding will be strategically deployed to fuel Kult's expansion plans of onboarding 700 premium products from around the globe, and aims to process over 10,000 orders daily by the end of 2025. The average ticket size is Rs 2,000. The start-up also plans to onboard exclusive brands from the US, the UK, Korea, Japan and France to give its platform an edge over rivals like Nykaa and Tira. Kult will expand its team to over 200 employees across crucial departments, including sourcing, engineering, product development, and user experience.