82°E, Deepika Padukone’s D2C self care startup raises $7.5 million in seed funding
- ByStartupStory | December 15, 2022
Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone’s D2C self care startup 82°E has recently raised a seed funding of about $7.5 million from DSG Consumer Partners and IDEO Ventures, along with multiple ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNIs) and Padukone’s family office.
The brand is currently deploying the funds to build its team, scale up research and development (R&D) and launch new products. It has an R&D lab in Bengaluru to formulate products in-house.
82°E is a personal care brand with skincare as the core focus, founded in 2021 by Deepika Padukone & Jigar Shah and launched in November 2022.The funding was raised in early 2022 & was deployed to scale up & strengthen the team of the brand. It employs around 35 people.
Jigar Shah said, “We raised this funding round pre-product, pre-revenue, pre-launch. When I went to the investors, all I had was a conversation. I did not even have a PPT or a deck, no product or revenues to show. It was an idea at that time (at the time of the funding).”
“Our solution to that is to simplify the entire world (of skincare), to go back to basics and focus on fundamentals of skincare. What we found out through research and conversation with our R&D experts is that if you focus on hydration and protection, a lot of skin health is taken care of. That is the story we’re trying to build,” said Shah about the product choice.
In a statement, Padukone said, “Jigar and I envisioned this brand as an extension of my personal as well as professional journey. We set out to launch products which are high-quality, high-performing and an authentic reflection of my beliefs and practices.”
“With our launch category of skincare products, we have rigorously sourced, carefully crafted and clinically tested our products to achieve lasting results. I am honoured to have investors of global repute join us in our vision to establish 82°E as a modern self-care brand born in India for the world,” she added.
For now, 82°E has two products – one for hydration and one for protection. According to the cofounder, the initial product choice was intentional as the startup considered multiple factors, including the season when it would launch.
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