Indian start-up raises funds for caffeine-infused personal care range

After nine months of ongoing R&D, MCaffeine - India's first caffeine infused personal care brand - was launched in 2016.

Based out of Mumbai, it sells directly to consumers and operates a digital-first marketing model. The brand’s creation and development, therefore, prioritises achieving consistency in visual design, messaging and customer experience across all relevant channels.

Caffeine-fuelled product lines​

"Raised funds will be used primarily on expanding the product portfolio and supply chain. The major focus will be to build an analytics engine for better product selection,"​ said Tarun Sharma, Founder and CEO of MCaffeine.

The brand has created a range of personal care products including shampoos and face washes that contain caffeine. MCaffeine emphasised the importance of the well-researched medicinal properties of caffeine on skin and hair, which can prevent hair fall and actively firm skin.

Marketed as a new age personal care brand, MCaffeine highlighted advancing consumer demands, which now focus on premium products that “are an extension of their identity”​, the company said in a recent release.

Consumer connections​

The company found in market research that Indian consumers are placing less importance on choosing imported products simply because of their imported status, but are now inclined to base their selection on those brands that “reflect their lifestyle and connect with them”​.

Getting a product developed and to market in the fast-moving consumer's goods (FMCG) proved a formidable challenge for the Indian personal care brand: "We conduct detailed focus groups and extensive product reviews,” said Vikas Lachhwani, Founder and President of MCaffeine.

“We collect both the 'stated' as well as 'revealed' preferences from a spectrum of consumers. The surveys, reviews, feedbacks have been used to train an analytics engine for product selection,”​ added Lachhwani.

Long-term plans​

“We aim to build a product range more aligned with consumers than industry leaders with fastest 'time to market' for product launches." ​

"We launched the brand with 6 SKU's including face wash and shampoo. We aim for $2 mn (€1.9 mn)revenues with 40 SKU and multiple sales channels in a year. We are delivering to more than 14000 pin codes across India and are working on International shipping as well,"​ Sharma concluded.