Indian beauty startup Nykaa is going public at over $7 billion valuation

Nykaa is an Indian eCommerce platform of authentic beauty products sourced directly from brands. Run and operated by Indian startup FSN E-Commerce Ventures, Nykaa sells different beauty and wellness products for men and women.

Today, Nykaa announced its initial public offering (IPO) priced at 1,085 rupees to 1,125 rupees per share, giving it a valuation of as much as $7.11 billion. Nykaa said it aims to raise nearly $500 million through a three-day IPO subscription starting from Oct. 28 to Nov 1.

As part of the IPO, Nykaa said it will issue new shares worth up to 5.25 billion Indian rupees ($70.13 million) and offer up to 43.1 million of its existing shares. The startup will use the IPO proceeds to set up new retail stores, fund capital spending, and repay debts, according to the prospectus.

Founded in 2012 by Falguni Nayar, the Mumbai-based Nykaa grew popular by selling cosmetics and grooming products on its website and mobile apps, before expanding into beauty, wellness and fashion products. The startup also sells its products in 76 offline stores.

As of March 31, the company had cumulative downloads of 43.7 million across all its mobile applications, the prospectus showed. It also has an offline presence comprising 73 physical stores across 38 cities in India. Nykaa also offers comprehensive content including product reviews, beauty how-to videos, articles by experts, and an e-beauty magazine. Their helpline helps to choose products and services best suited for customer’s needs.

Nykaa is one of the many Indian tech startups going public this year. In October, SoftBank-backed Indian tech startup Oyo filed for $1.2 billion IPO. Paytm, which is backed by Berkshire Hathaway Inc-backed, also filed for its IPO.