Future of Beauty and Personal Care: Tracking the evolution of the category in India

0:00 - 6:25: Introductions and beginnings! Darpan isn’t your average CEO, and MyGlamm wasn’t born without some serious on-ground work that began with a keen interest in brands, and a never-say-never attitude. 
6:30 - 10:51: Prashanth’s thoughts on the brand space with specific insight into BPC, and what is unique about the sector. 
10:53 - 20:45: How Darpan navigated this space from an entrepreneur point of view. How did Darpan decide what product to launch with? 
20:50 - 24:00: Prashanth gives us the investor perspective. 
24:03 - 27:51: What are the challenges and advantages that startups face in this segment, when they come up against the goliath brands that have been around for longer. 
27:52 - 30:40: Darpan tells us how he learnt from the foundations of the business, and in the BPC space the challenges that exist, are actually opportunities in disguise. 
30:35 - 31:45: Prashanth on how brands and businesses have to look to survive. How they must leverage the offline muscle that they built, to stay relevant in digital times. 
31:5o - 34:47: Does Darpan believe in the offline sales concept as well? How does it apply to his D2C brand and platform? 
34:50 - 39:20: The impact that COVID-19 has had on this industry and the surprises that came along with it! 
39:22 - 46:55 : Internet penetration in India has been far more successful and higher than the BPC penetration. What does this mean for aspiring companies in this space?
47:00 - 55:34 - What does the future hold for BPC brands as well as the broader D2C segment. Our experts have predictions, aspirations, and hope for the future.

I’ve heard the word ‘MyGlamm’ quite often in the last year, not least of all because my wife and two girls are constantly poring over the site, checking out all their products!

From lipsticks to hair care to bath and body -- there’s little to nothing that the average shopper cannot find that covers all beauty and personal care needs. And what’s more, the shopper can browse through multiple brands within the same unified platform. 

It is to talk about this vision that I am joined today by Prashanth Prakash, senior partner at Accel and the man behind the glam himself -- Darpan Sanghvi, CEO and co-founder of MyGlamm, India’s fastest growing direct-to-consumer beauty brand. 

MyGlamm is one of our more recent investments in the beauty and personal care (BPC) segments that has seen tremendous success with its house of brands model and direct-to-consumer (D2C) business approach. 

It was enervating to hear Darpan’s unique take on the growing BPC market from an entrepreneurial perspective, along with Prashanth's keen and experienced insights into the burgeoning business. 

In this episode we discussed everything from MyGlamm’s journey, building a scalable beauty company using technology, the challenges and opportunities of the indian market, tackling the COVID-19 crisis, leveraging social media, creating a data engine, and more -- all while keeping an eye on the offline sales game as well. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. 

As you join us in this conversation, you will learn more on: 

• Darpan’s inspiring journey and what led to the birth of MyGlamm
• Being D2C means staying relevant - learning to leverage social media and how to grow along with changing customer needs 
• Product building - An interesting insight into how MyGlamm found its niche, which then opened up into a wide spectrum of products, leading the way for --
• -- you guessed it, a house of brands model which Darpan swears by. Darpan talks us through the multiple sub-categories launched within their umbrella brand, and why this leads to a better and more seamless customer experience. Not to mention an accelerated customer acquisition! 
• MyGlamm’s learning curve came with having to tackle offline sales, which did not prove easy. 
• Acquisitions and learnings : How Darpan and his team approached the digital era of sales through acquiring POPxo and riding the social media wave. 
• The old doesn’t need to make way for the new; in this world of BPC, the new and the old will converge to see who can leverage what -- hear more from Prashanth, about the changing fabric of the Indian and global market. 
• Into the thick of it - what the future holds in store for the beauty and personal care segment and of course, for MyGlamm. 
  

I enjoyed every minute of this conversation, and not just because I have high hopes now that I have convinced Darpan to launch a line of products for men.
I gained valuable insights into the intricate details that go into building products that have such an immediate impact on the consumers. 

Like both Prashanth and Darpan concurred, it is very interesting to see where this segment is headed and we are hopeful of seeing Indian products and brands make an entry into the global arena soon. 
And you can be sure they’ll do it with glam!