 "Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar. Image via Tech in Asia")
For 27 years, Falguni Nayar worked hard to become one of the most successful investment bankers. And it paid off. After graduating from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, she joined the mergers and acquisitions division of A F Ferguson in 1985 and led several high-profile capital market deals in Mumbai. In 1993, Falguni joined Kotak Mahindra Finance to head the M&A division and went on to become the managing director and CEO.
In 2012, Falguni quit her high profile finance career to launch her own start-up.
While Falguni was scouting for opportunity in the ecommerce space, she joined Singaporean state investment company Temasek – which has invested in several Indian internet companies including Just Dial, Zomato, and Snapdeal – as its independent advisor. Around the same time, she launched her own ecommerce site, Nykaa, a store for beauty and wellness products.
“When I was starting with ecommerce, I carefully chose beauty and wellness because there was not too much competition. The other spaces like electronics and fashion had too many players trying to address them. I consciously chose an area that was small but expected to grow and a bit difficult to do,” says Falguni.
With this deal, Narayan Ramachandran, former country head of Morgan Stanley India, who has worked with luxury retail businesses, will join the Nykaa board.
