Caffeine Infused Personal Care Brand mCaffeine Raises INR 42 Cr in Series B Round The funding round was led by Amicus Capital along with participation from consumer-focused VC firm RPSG Ventures, founder of Boat Audio Amit Gupta and the company's existing investor Telama Investments

Pep Technologies, parent company of caffeine infused skin and hair care brand mCaffeine, has raised INR 42 crore in Series B funding round led by Amicus Capital.

The funding round also saw participation from consumer-focused VC firm RPSG Ventures, founder of Boat Audio Amit Gupta and the company's existing investor Telama Investments.

Founded in 2016 by Vikas Lachhwani and Tarun Sharma, mCaffeine is a direct-to-consumer personal care brand. It claims to be a clean label that involves no animal testing.

"Our products are manufactured after extensive R&D. We embody the millennial philosophy of "natural first" in the form of clean label. We see product development as an exercise to address the needs of modern lifestyle. We believe in pure, natural ingredients and pursue a rigorous clinical and dermatological testing regime. For us, research is paramount," said founder and CEO Sharma.

The Mumbai-based cosmetics company has sold over 2.8 million products amounting to INR 100 crore since its launch. It claims to have surpassed its pre-Covid-19 revenue rate and its products are among best sellers across multiple categories on Amazon and Nykaa.

With the fresh funding, mCaffeine plans to scale up its R&D capabilities, expand its distribution across digital channels and grow its operations.

"There are about 20 products in portfolio so far and we have aggressive plans to further launch 15-20 products in the next one year," said Sharma.

mCaffeine Founders Tarun Sharma (L) and Vikas Lachhwani (R)

"We are very impressed with mCaffeine's research-led product development and intensive engagement with consumers across social media. The company has also demonstrated very healthy unit economics while delivering high revenue growth. We are excited to partner with Tarun and Vikas to scale up mCaffeine with new product offerings and expand the distribution network," said Sunil Theckath Vasudevan, co-founder and Partner, Amicus Capital.

mCaffeine last USD 2 million in series A funding round led by RPSG Ventures in June 2019.

Commenting on the deal, Abhishek Goenka, Head and CIO, RPSG Ventures, said, "mCaffeine has built a solid differentiation around caffeine based personal care products which is demonstrated in their strong growth profile and superior capital efficiency. Our follow on investment is a reflection of our continued confidence in Tarun and Vikas and resonates well with RPSG Venture's philosophy of backing it's portfolio companies from a long term perspective."