Info Edge, the owner of online classifieds Naukri and 99acres, has invested another Rs. 6 Crores in salon-at-home start-up BigStylist. Info Edge had invested Rs 6.4 crore in BigStylist in August last year in what was its first new investment in nearly three years. This is a bridge round which will help the start-up break even and raise more money from external investors.
BigStylist was founded in July by IIT-Kharagpur graduates Richa Singh, Anurag Srivastava and Chinmaya Sharma. Chinmaya and Richa are both ex-management consultants having worked with Bain & Co. and Oliver Wyman, post MBAs from IIM-Bangalore and IIM- Ahmedabad, respectively. Anurag, who is the CTO, was previously with payroll automation firm ADP.
Customers can order beauty services via the company's website, Android mobile app or by phone. BigStylist, has served more than 25,000 customers in Mumbai and Pune since launch last year.
Info Edge, which is also an investor in Zomato, has backed several other startups including PolicyBazaar, Mydala, Happily Unmarried and Meritnation. "Beauty and wellness as a vertical will see at least 2 or 3 specialists create significant value and scale-up. This round is a vote of confidence in the execution and performance shown thus far by the company," Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani said in a statement.
Beauty and wellness services is pegged as a $10-billion industry in India, growing at 20% year-on-year, attracting investor interest.
