Falguni Nair – The Second Richest Indian Women – Startup Story of Nykaa

falguni nayar

Falguni Nair

Falguni Nair is 2nd richest Indian business woman and  the founder and ceo of Nykaa, a beauty and wellness company. Before starting business, she was an investment banker. With a net worth of $6.5 billion, Nair has joined the league of six other female billionaires in India. Falguni Nair is now India’s richest self-made female billionaire.

Falguni nayar - ceo and founder of nykaa

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Nair is the second richest woman after OP Jindal Group chairperson Savitri Jindal. But Savitri Jindal has inherited the property from her family. Whereas Falguni Nair has made all this on his own.

Childhood and Family Background of Falguni Nair

Falguni Nair was born in a Gujarati family in Mumbai, Maharashtra on 19 February 1963. She was raised in a business environment. Her father ran a small bearing company where her mother helped them. She did her school from a local school in her neighbourhood. She had graduated in commerce from Sydenham College of Commerce & Economics, Mumbai. She has done his post-graduation from IIM, Ahmedabad. She met Sanjay Nair (her husband) at IIM Ahmedabad and became very close to him since then.  They tied the knot in May 1987. Currently, Sanjay Nayar is working as Chief Executive Officer in India of US-based equity firm KKR. They have a son and a daughter named Anchit and Advaita.  Her son Anchit  Nayar has graduated from Columbia University and he is the ceo of Nykaa.com. Her daughter Advaita is graduate from Yale and an MBA from Harvard Business School and currently she is the ceo of NykaaFaishon. Advaita was a part of the founding team of Nykaa and oversaw product, tech, marketing and operations at various points over the initial two years.

Startup Journey of Nykaa

Falguni Nair started her career as a Management Consultant with AF Ferguson Company, then in 1993 she joined Kotak Mahindra Group and worked for 19 years. She became the Managing Director in 2005 and remained in this position till 2012. Falguni Nair started her career as a Management Consultant with AF Ferguson Company, then in 1993 she joined Kotak Mahindra Group and worked for 19 years. She became the Managing Director in 2005 and remained in this position till 2012. Falguni started her company at that stage of age at which most women start getting tired. She was already very much ahead in the field of finance. At the age of 50, Falguni thought of doing something of her own and started Nykaa. Falguni Nair founded Nykaa in 2012 at the age of 50, a time when women used to buy their makeup from nearby stores. Nykaa created a platform where all types of cosmetic and beauty products are available. Falguni explored many such investing options and out of them, Beauty found her the best. Falguni believed that there is a lot of scope in the online beauty space and she can make it a lot better going forward.

Her beauty product range was taken over by women, due to which her company sold $ 200 million worth of goods in just one quarter. Since then, the startup has grown into a beauty retailer. Glamourous Bollywood actors and celebrities and over 70 mortar stores promoted Nykaa through videos, leading to a spurt in online sales. The brand name Nykaa is derived from the Sanskrit word, which means heroine. The Nykaa brand sells a wide range of beauty products including exfoliation creams, bridal makeup and lipsticks, foundations and hundreds of shades of nail colors to suit Indian skin.

Nair holds stake in his company through two family trusts and seven other entities. They have a daughter and son who run separate Nykaa units and are the promoters of Nykaa’s brand. While Nair has become India’s richest self-made woman billionaire.

As Nykaa’s popularity grew, so did its brand appeal. Top Bollywood celebrities like Katrina Kaif have also contributed in taking this forward. Nykaa has also built its own brand of products in-house since 2015 and recently started selling clothing and home products. Its street presence is growing with 80 stores across 40 Indian cities.

Falguni is not only the shareholder and founder of the company, but she also manages the company through 7 other promoters. Falguni’s son and daughter are the promoters of different units of Nayaka.

With this, Falguni Nair has become the richest woman in India to become a billionaire on her own. Falguni Nair is the MD and CEO of Nykaa. Falguni Nair and her husband hold 54 per cent stake in the company.

You would also like to read about real money earning mobile games.

titu
Delhi Magazine Team

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.