Executive Summary 

Redseer partnered with ICICI Venture to conduct a commercial due diligence (CDD) of Innovist, a fast-growing house of science-led beauty and personal care brands, including Chemist at Play, Bare Anatomy, and SunScoop. 

Our assessment unveiled key shifts in India’s BPC landscape, from rising interest in ingredient-led products, the emergence of science-backed brands, to growing digital adoption beyond metros. We also highlighted the role of in-house manufacturing, an omnichannel footprint, and a sharp focus on margins in building a sustainable business. 

Additionally, we identified the core themes shaping Innovist’s next phase of growth – deeper consumer engagement, a sharper channel mix, stronger unit economics, and untapped market opportunities. 

This clarity on business fundamentals and future potential helped ICICI Venture move ahead with confidence in its investment decision

About the Client 

Sector: Beauty & Personal Care (BPC) 

Scale: ₹250-300 Cr revenue across three digital-first brands (FY25) 

Funding Stage: Pre-growth round, VC-backed 

Innovist is a science-led beauty and personal care company with strong early traction in skincare, haircare, and sun care, driven largely through online channels. As they looked to scale and raise capital, ICICI Venture engaged with Redseer to assess Innovist’s business strengths, growth plans, and readiness to compete in a fast-evolving market shaped by product efficacy, digital adoption, and rising competition

The Strategic Imperative

Framing the ‘Why Now’ 

India’s BPC sector is at a turning point, led by growing demand for ingredient-focused products, wider digital reach beyond metros, the rise of masstige brands, and increasing trust in science-first formulations. At the same time, funding in the space is becoming more selective. Investors are now backing brands that go beyond the hype; those with strong unit economics, clear positioning, and the ability to scale across channels. Our diligence was rooted in real market dynamics and a close review of Innovist’s business plan, helping assess both the risks and opportunities for long-term growth. 

Redseer’s Strategic Engagement

• Market Assessment – Segmented the MSME landscape across key sectors primarily through a digitisation lens. This helped in sharpening the estimates to reflect a more realistic market size, comprising only enterprises above a certain level of digitisation as the true beneficiaries of the product 
• Supply Side Analysis – Mapped existing capital deployment models and estimated an unserved credit gap of $220B, with forecasts indicating a widening supply-demand mismatch over the next five years. This highlighted the growing opportunity in the SME credit space, provided lending conditions remain the same. 
• TG Deep Dive – Conducted interviews with founders across SaaS, F&B, E-commerce, and other digital-first sectors to uncover pain points in their borrowing journeys and unmet financial needs.  
• Impact of Public Interventions – Assessed the effectiveness of government schemes targeted towards the financial upliftment of MSMEs and the need for a collaborative solution through public-private partnerships
  

Outcomes & Impact – How We Enabled ICICI Ventures for the Right Decision-Making 

• Strategic Market Alignment – Our work provided a comprehensive look at Innovist’s operational model and market standing, confirming its strong fit within the evolving beauty and personal care landscape.  
• Identified Growth Opportunities – We highlighted specific opportunities for Innovist, including potential new product avenues and optimal channel strategies, all while considering the efficiencies offered by their in-house manufacturing. 
• Business Plan Validation and Investor Confidence – Reviewed Innovist’s projections, identified optimistic assumptions, and validated the ‘house of brands’ model, strengthening investor confidence in Innovist’s strong foundation and ability to scale effectively. 
• Data-Driven Insights for Clearer Decisions – Our engagement emphasised the need for a detailed, data-driven understanding of evolving market trends, competitor positioning, and key growth opportunities for Innovist to prioritise the most impactful areas for scaling and long-term success
• Equipped ICICI Venture with a clear, data-backed understanding of Innovist’s core strengths, ingredient-first brand positioning, robust execution, and strong early traction across BPC categories. 
• Helped validate Innovist’s ‘house of brands’ model, grounded in in-house manufacturing, channel diversification, and science-led innovation, providing a tangible roadmap to sustainable growth. 
• Flagged strategic levers to unlock next-phase value, sharper brand identity, omnichannel scaling, margin enhancement, and deeper consumer trust.  

Redseer’s commercial due diligence brought strategic clarity to a fast-moving category. By stress-testing business assumptions, identifying white spaces, and aligning growth plans with real market shifts, we enabled ICICI Venture to assess Innovist’s scale-readiness and invest with confidence. 

Our review highlighted Innovist’s strengths and readiness to scale – from product depth and digital traction to a strong focus on operational discipline – underscoring our conviction in the underlying opportunity this segment presents – Jasbir S Juneja (Partner, Redseer) 

What This Means for the Industry 

India’s beauty sector is evolving beyond surface-level branding. Today, successful brands, especially those attracting serious investment, are defined by effective, science-backed products, strong digital presence, scalable business models, and alignment with modern consumer behaviour. 

Innovist’s journey reflects this shift from traditional approaches to active, omnichannel, and value-driven growth. This underscores a key truth: in today’s market, investors bet on brands that grow through science and substance, not just marketing spend. 

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