THIRTY-EIGHT-YEAR old Deepak Gupta, an engineer from Chandigarh who cut his teeth in marketing, sales and supply chain management in consumer products giant Colgate-Palmolive, considers his 2019 decision to join two-year-old start-up Visage Lines Personal Care Pvt. Ltd. as life-changing.
Hired as chief business officer to build the offline business of Visage’s “Bombay Shaving Company” hair removal products, Gupta oversaw a 10-fold rise in revenue from ₹20 crore to ₹200 crore in next three years. “Bombay Shaving Company was in early stages. I met Shantanu (founder) through a friend, tried to understand the journey, and we decided to co-partner,” says Gupta.
The fast growth means that Bombay Shaving Company is no longer a niche, metro-centric, exclusive grooming brand. Its over 70 products have a wide reach. The women centric products, introduced after Gupta became part of the leadership team, are marketed under “Bombae” brand. Half the business comes from offline sales. “This year we have launched 15 products. For women, focus is on hair removal products. Our flexi body razors compete with Venus (Gillette). We have a trimmer that competes with Philips,” says Gupta.
The company has raised ₹250 crore, including from Colgate-Palmolive (around 13% stake) and Reckitt Benckiser (around 6%). It wants to be India’s leading brand in the ₹5,000 crore shaving category. “Our vision is 2/5/10, which means reaching two crore bathrooms, with five products each and 10 minutes of happiness. We want to realise this in next five years by when our revenue should be ₹1,500 crore,” says Gupta. — Joe C. Mathew