Direct-to-consumer freshly minted startup Moxie Beauty, which focuses on haircare, has raised ₹17.3 crores from Fireside Ventures and other angel investors such as former Unilever CMO Samir Singh, Arjun Purkayastha, YogaBar founder Suhasini Sampath and Mokobara founders Navin Parwal and Sangeet Agrawal.

The funds raised will be used for product innovation, research, hiring and expanding distribution channels.

Talking to businessline, one of Moxie’s founders Nikita Khanna explained the intent behind the launch was to provide solutions and haircare for Indian hair, which tended to vary mostly from wavy to curly and also tackle frizz and dryness. The struggles with her own hair provided the learning needed to understand the problem, appreciate the uniqueness of Indian hair and offer the right solutions.

Khanna pointed out that most haircare products sold in India by multinationals are geared towards Western or Caucasian standards, which are typically straight hair. Local brands tend to copy these with some tweaks for Indian customers. Those with curly, bushy hair take the easy way out by straightening their hair to keep it tidy. “Salon-quality products are not made for us, and the ones that are are exorbitantly priced,” Khanna said.

Apart from shampoo and conditioner, the Moxie range includes serums, leave-in and styling products.

The products are sold from its website, which accounts for over 70 per cent of the sales, while it is also selling through online channels such as Amazon. Launched in November, Khanna said the products were seeing fast growth in terms of sales, which have doubled in the last two months and from the current level is expected to double by the end of the year.

The brand will soon be live on Nykaa and the quick commerce platform Blinkit. It has also partnered with a few salons across the country. Most of its sales are concentrated in the major metro cities.

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