Foxtale raises $4M in a pre-series A round led by Matrix Partners India, Kae Capital

14th June 2022. Mumbai: Indian D2C skincare brand, Foxtale has raised $4M in its pre-Series A funding round led by Matrix Partners India with participation from existing investor Kae Capital and some notable angel investors.

The Mumbai-based startup had raised its seed round in August last year. The startup launched in December 2021, found an early product-market fit and a repeat rate of more than 50% which led to a quick pre-Series A round.

This round of funding will be used in expanding the product range, hiring senior vertical heads and in scaling the business across multiple touchpoints.

The culture of self-care is still very nascent in India. While skincare brands have existed for a long time, they either fall in the category of herbal and ayurvedic, ineffective yet massy or luxury and expensive. Foxtale wants to bridge this gap between efficacy and affordability, making skincare, and by extension, self-care, accessible to all. To understand what the modern Indian woman is looking for in skincare, the Founder and CEO, Romita Mazumdar conducted interviews with more than 3000 women. From all those insights and the expertise of a team of brilliant chemists and formulators, Foxtale was born.

'‹'‹The brand's decision to launch with 4 basic products, a cleanser, vitamin C serum, moisturizer and sunscreen, was a bold move, as most other brands rely on starting with a wide range of SKUs. However, Foxtale's approach to skincare is guided by what its consumers need. It's these 4 product categories that people use the most and need better formulations for. After perfecting this 4-step routine, Foxtale is now ready to launch more targeted solutions to the users' skincare issues.

Efficacy is one of the biggest selling points of Foxtale. This is ensured by their formulation team, headed by one of the most lauded names in Indian cosmetics and personal care products, Dr. Ramesh Surianarayanan. He has pioneered many acclaimed products in his previous stints at Himalaya and Unilever and he now extends his expertise to Foxtale. The product development engine at Foxtale keeps their user community at the centre. From identifying which products that they should launch, to testing them to finalizing the packaging, Foxtale tries to include feedback from their users every step of the way and they only launch products in the market once 97% of their community approves of their efficacy.

Speaking of the funding, Romita Mazumdar, Founder & CEO, Foxtale, said, "A big issue in the Indian skincare industry has been the low customer repeat rates. It was clear that efficacy was a big problem for skincare enthusiasts in India and we had to solve it. Our focus on understanding our customer's needs & product innovation has enabled us to establish a strong early product-market fit and drive industry-leading repeat rates and customer NPS scores; however, there is still a long way to go. I am very excited to find partners like Matrix and Kae in this journey and looking forward to building Foxtale with them.'

"Foxtale is different from other skincare brands. Its focus on high efficacy and the vigorous testing they conduct before launching a product is unlike any other. Foxtale sources 80% of its ingredients from premiere labs across the globe. We are excited to continue to partner with Foxtale as they build out India's foremost skincare DTC brand.' Commented Sunitha Vishwanathan, Partner, Kae Capital.

"The beauty and personal care market in India is growing fast and is expected to reach $28B by 2025. We are privileged to partner with Romita and the Foxtale team as they aim to disrupt this market through innovative products and differentiated go-to-market strategies. At Matrix, we continue to be excited about backing new-age consumer brands and Foxtale is our tenth investment in the sector.' Commented Rajat Agarwal, Managing Director, Matrix India.

On the road ahead, Romita said, "Our vision is one - to build a consumer-first brand where growth and product have equal importance. I want to change the perception that self-care should be a luxury restricted to women who have the privilege of time and money while proving that a profitable business can be built with consumers at the centre of the story. "

About Foxtale:
Foxtale is a new entrant in the rapidly growing D2C skincare market in India. Started in 2021, the brand's focus has been on spearheading innovations in the skincare space and creating products dictated by consumer needs. The brand is on a mission to make affordable, efficacious skincare accessible to all and change the perception around selfcare and skincare in India. The brand is inspired by women and Indian women in particular, their skin stories and equation with skincare. The '˜tale' in Foxtale is a homage to these stories. You can read more about Foxtale, here.

About the founder:
Foxtale has been founded by Romita Mazumdar, ex-investment banker, venture capitalist and UCLA graduate. Her experience in investing in some of the most successful D2C brands gave her a keen insight into consumers and what motivates them to love certain brands over others. She started Foxtale started in response to her experience as a skincare consumer and enthusiast,

About Matrix Partners India:
Founded in 2006, the firm invests in companies targeting the Indian consumer and enterprise market at the seed, early and early growth stages. Matrix India has invested in several market leading consumer-focused companies such as, Country Delight (D2C dairy & fresh foods brand), Mosaic Wellness (health & wellness digital platform), W For Woman (ready to wear fashion label), OZiva (India's leading clean, plant-based nutrition brand), Open Secret ("unjunked' snack brand), The Whole Truth (clean label food brand), DaMENSCH (premium men's apparel brand), & Chumbak (design-led lifestyle brand).

Other marquee investments include Ola (mobility), Dailyhunt (mobile local language platform), Razorpay (payments), OfBusiness (B2B Commerce, fintech), Five Star Business Finance (SME lending), Ola Electric (electric vehicles), Stanza Living (tech-enabled student housing platform), OneCard (mobile-first credit card), DealShare (social commerce platform), GoKwik (e-commerce enablement platform), Captain Fresh (seafood marketplace), Bijnis (B2B platform for factories), MoEngage (intelligent marketing cloud platform), Jupiter (consumer neobank), Mswipe (mobile POS), Zupee (leading skill-based gaming app), and Oxyzo (a tech-enabled smart financing solution provider) among others. Matrix India has advisory offices in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. Matrix Partners has a global network of funds investing in the US, China and India, with approximately $5 billion under management. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in. To know more about our investment philosophy & ideologies, check out the #MatrixMoments podcast series.