● Soothe Healthcare raised ₹ 130 crore Series C funding from leading PE fund A91 Partners earlier this month
● Aggressive plans to be a leading player in the under-penetrated and high-growth hygiene industry in India
Hyderabad, NFAPost: Soothe Healthcare, a leading homegrown personal hygiene company, completed an investment of Rs 100 crore in an extended Series C round led by Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), Northern Arc & KKR backed Incred.
With this additional round, the company’s total funding stands at a rewarding Rs 230 crore, including a recent Rs 130 crore Series-C funding from leading PE fund A91 Partners.
The latest transaction includes a secondary with Sixth Sense Ventures selling a partial stake to GII. Soothe Healthcare will utilize the funds to aggressively fuel its growth plans including expansion of manufacturing capabilities, investment in best-in-class machinery to accelerate contribution to the Make in India initiative, as well as investments in marketing and distribution.
Soothe Healthcare’s portfolio of innovative and disruptive feminine hygiene products – including its flagship brand Paree sanitary pads and recently launched baby diapers Super Cute’s – has grown over 2X in the last 12 months despite the current pandemic. It has established itself as an omnichannel company leveraging both offline and D2C capability – deep distribution channels throughout India, modern trade, hypermarket stores and an online presence.
GII Co-CEOs Mohammed Alhassan and Pankaj Gupta jointly commented GII is excited to invest in a homegrown champion and category leader such as Soothe and work alongside Sahil Dharia and his team to increase the accessibility of feminine and disposable hygiene products across India.
“As a socially conscious investor, GII recognises the underpenetrated personal hygiene market in India; a country with one of the world’s highest women and infant populations in the world, many of whom lag behind their global peers in the usage and adoption of personal and disposable hygiene products,” said Mohammed Alhassan and Pankaj Gupta.
Through the “Made in India” initiative, Mohammed Alhassan and Pankaj Gupta said Soothe has achieved advantageous brand positioning of its flagship feminine hygiene offering “Paree” which is set to score multi-fold growth in the coming years.
“We look forward to leveraging investment from our latest IGP II and working together with current investors Sixth Sense Ventures, Symphony and A91 partners to advance Soothe’s remarkable growth journey and make a significant difference in the lives of women and girls in India,” said Mohammed Alhassan and Pankaj Gupta.
Northern Arc Chief Operating Officer Bama Balakrishnan said the Northern Arc is delighted to partner with Soothe as an early lender to fund a business meeting feminine hygiene requirements across the country.
“It aligns well with our focus on supporting businesses and products that benefit women customers,” said Bama Balakrishnan.
Soothe Healthcare Founder & CEO Sahil Dharia commented that the company is focussed, aggressive and passionate in becoming a trusted personal hygiene brand and a leading player in the hygiene industry.
“The series of back-to-back funding will fuel our vision to bring research-based, quality personal hygiene products that positively impact the life of our community. We are looking at expanding our in-house manufacturing facilities using the best in class machines. We will also use the funds for marketing and distribution purposes, scaling production and launching innovative new products,” Sahil Dharia.
The brand positions itself as a homegrown domestic leader in the feminine care category, using advanced technology and in-depth research to develop products that cater to its consumer’s needs.
The brand Paree sanitary pads were launched in 2018 through offline FMCG distribution channels. The young company has raised several rounds of investments from leading foreign institutional and domestic investors including London-listed investment company, Symphony International Holdings Ltd. and Mumbai-based consumer fund, Sixth Sense Ventures, A91 Partners amongst other backers.
About Gulf Islamic Investments
Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), headquartered in UAE, is one of the world’s leading Shari’ah-compliant investment management firms. With more than $2 billion of assets under management, GII seeks to create superior returns and long-term value for its investors, shareholders, portfolio companies and the communities in which it invests.
GII deploys private capital across a diverse set of business segments including real estate, private equity, and venture capital across geographies. With the success of India Growth Portfolio I (IGP I) in 2020, GII recently launched IGP II for investment in India focusing on consumer, healthcare and technology. The objective of IGP II is to create a diversified portfolio of high-growth companies with a proven track record, a strong business model with emphasis on ESG.
About Northern Arc
Northern Arc is a platform that caters to the diverse credit requirements of under-served households and businesses by providing efficient and reliable access to debt finance. With a proprietary integrated technology system called “Nimbus”, a customized credit underwriting approach and a tailored product suite, the company has raised over INR 950bn for its clients since the inception of its platform in 2009.
Northern Arc & KKR backed Incred are existing venture debt providers and are reinvesting in the firm with Northern Arc investing INR 28 Cr in this round.
About Soothe Healthcare
Soothe Healthcare, a Spirit of Manufacturing Award-winning company, is engaged in manufacturing, distributing, and marketing personal hygiene products under its flagship brand Paree sanitary pads. It has now expanded into the baby diapers segment with the launch of its brand Super Cute’s.
Soothe is a research-focused company with customer-centricity at its core is committed to product innovation that addresses the real needs of our consumers and makes a difference in their lives. The vision is to positively impact the health, hygiene, and wellness of the community that we are a part of.
