Hair Originals, India’s first AI based luxury hair extensions and wig brand offering 100 percent natural Indian human hair raised $1.25 million from Anicut Capital, Kesh Kala Family Office, JITO Angel Network (JAN), Lets Venture, Dexter Angels, Pankaj Chaddah, Ex Co-founder Zomato and Ahana Gautam, Founder, Open Secret. Dexter Capital acted as the exclusive advisor for Hair Originals
The luxury hair extension brand aims to harness the funds to scale their business operations by 4X, achieve 100 Cr ARR by the end of 2024, expand to 25 cities PAN India with experience centres in 5 major cities, and to introduce their D2C services in the US market. The company aims to create a brand value that can generate over 70% of its revenue from D2C Channels through aggressive content and influencer-led marketing and enhancing the manufacturing capacity. Additionally, the brand intends to accelerate hiring and venture into emerging technology such as AI-driven “magic mirror” and automation in backend manufacturing.
“We are excited to have raised such encouraging funding at this juncture of our journey. We have been registering around 4X growth YoY in the last 3 years with profitability. We did our extensive market research in 20+ markets prior to launch and are thus understanding the dynamics and nuances of the industry. With our extensive marketing efforts, we want to educate people especially those suffering from hair loss about the offerings. We are bringing on a lot of salon partners across numerous locations so that every customer in India could purchase the products and receive installation for free. Moreover, owing to our history with technology, we also aim to utilise the funds to utilise AR/VR and AI capabilities and provide an immersive experience to all the customers. The popularity of their hair extensions has now leapt all bounds. With the continuous support from our investors, we anticipate achieving 100 Cr ARR by the end of 2024 with a sizable percentage coming from the US D2C markets too”, said, Jitendra Sharma, Founder and CEO, Hair Originals.
“We are proud to add this unique and ethical hair solutions provider to our portfolio. We expect Hair Originals to not just tap the national market but cater to the growing demand for hair extensions globally. We are especially drawn to the company’s ethical procurement philosophy and hope for a long and fruitful association,” said Pooja Mehta, Chief Investment Officer, JITO Angel Network.
Hair Originals was one of the very few startups in Shark Tank India which got offers from all 5 sharks. Eventually, Mr. Peyush Bansal (Lenskart), Anupam Mittal (Shaadi.com) and Ashneer Grover (Ex-MD of BharatPe) are currently on Hair Originals’ Cap Table. Earlier this year, the company raised INR 30 Mn in the pre-Seed funding round, where the company received angel investments from marquee investors. Hair Originals’ products are now exported to luxury salons in 22 countries and have reigned in the B2B sector by partnering with top luxury salons.
The current funding round was led by a series of investors including Mr. Manish Chhabra, the founder of leading hair care company HRI (which owns brands like Color Streax, Kesh Kala etc). With this strategic investment, Hair Originals will leverage the last-mile experience of Mr. Chhabra in the Hair Care industry along with their presence in 5000 Salons.
According to Fortune Business Insights, the global hair extension market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.3% to $ 3.43 billion in 2028, from $2.38 billion in 2021. Rising demand for premium quality grooming products, as well as increasing incidents of hair diseases and surging ageing population are factors that are seen fuelling growth for this segment.
“It is indeed a very important milestone for us to have JITO, Kesh Kala, and all our new investors on board. We also take this opportunity to thank the constant trust that our existing investors have shown in us. Their faith empowers us to strengthen our resolve to disrupt the hair extensions market globally,” added Jitendra Sharma, Founder of Hair Originals.