Halal beauty and personal care products start-up Believe raised $55 million in Series C funding.

WHO: Founded in 2019 by Ankit Mahajan, Believe is a portfolio of brands that makes Halal-certified beauty and personal care products catering to Muslim communities in Asia and the Middle East. Believe owns brands such as Lafz, ZM, and Dr Rhazes, which are well known in Bangladesh and India as well as countries that are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

WHY: The fresh capital will help Believe accelerate its market consolidation through strategic acquisitions in Bangladesh and India. The D2C company also plans to deepen its reach in the Gulf Cooperation Council market and Southeast Asia through organic and inorganic growth.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: "We have received tremendous consumer love all the way from launching our first product in 2019 to witnessing 2.5x growth in the last one year. Our 2000 family of happy Believers is our eyes and ears to the ground that help us be nimble and responsive to consumer needs," said Ankit Mahajan, CEO of Believe PTE Ltd. "We have created a relentless marketing organization that has the ability to identify consumer needs, use 12-member strong R&D expertise to make fantastic products and then put our international supply chain to deliver global standard products to countries across the world."

"We believe there is a massive opportunity waiting to explode in entire Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, GCC region for such Halal-certified products," said Nicholas Cator, founder and managing partner at Venturi. "The market continues to be fragmented with smaller unorganised players currently dominating the scene. Believe will be the first house of brands to cater to this huge target audience."

"Believe has demonstrated unprecedented traction and growth in a very short period via its brands focused on the global markets in the BPC segment," said Chetan Naik, fund manager at IIFL AMC. "Its growth is a testament to how a relevantly positioned brand with strong product efficacy creates resonance with its consumer and creates value for all."

DETAILS:

• Believe raised $55 million in Series C funding led by Venturi Partners with participation from IFL Asset Management along with existing backers like Accel, Jungle Ventures, Alteria Capital, and Genesis Alternative Ventures.
• This round brings Believe’s total investments to over $80 million across three rounds within the last two years. The Series A and Series B fundraises were led by Accel and Jungle Ventures with participation from Wamda Capital, a Middle East-based fund.
• In the past year, Believe has achieved 2.5x growth.
• Bengaluru-based investment bank IndigoEdge was the sole advisor for this transaction.