The problem
A decade ago, buying beauty in India meant either trusting a dubious marketplace listing or trekking to a metro mall counter: fakes were rampant, shade-matching advice didn’t exist, and premium brands barely reached beyond big cities.
How it works
Nykaa combined content, curation, and stores. Its beauty encyclopedia (10,000+ articles) and Nykaa TV channel teach routine-building; everything sold is 100% authentic; 237 stores across Luxe, On-Trend, and kiosk formats let shoppers swatch in person; and owned brands — Nykaa Cosmetics (₹350 crore GMV) and Kay Beauty with Katrina Kaif (₹240 crore GMV) in FY25 — sit beside 8,600+ third-party labels at higher margins.
Pain points
Fear of counterfeits, no trustworthy guidance for Indian skin tones, and zero premium retail access in smaller cities.
Business model
Margins on owned inventory, commissions from marketplace sellers in fashion, brand advertising on the platform, and outsized margins on private-label lines.
Challenges
Fashion grows from a small base against entrenched horizontal marketplaces; 10-minute delivery players reset convenience expectations in beauty too; and every new brand partnership must earn its shelf without eroding profitability.
Funding
- Raised: ~₹5,300 crore IPO (2021, oversubscribed 80x+), with a ~₹2,396 crore anchor book including BlackRock and Fidelity (Foundlanes).
- Valuation: MISSING.
Latest — May 2026
Strategy analyses of the FY25 results published in May 2026 frame Nykaa as India’s only profitable beauty IPO: ₹7,950 crore net revenue (+24%), beauty GMV ₹11,775 crore (+30%), EBITDA margin 6.5%, and net profit up 81% to ₹72 crore.