For decades, store shelves in India were dominated by haircare products formulated for Western users. That mismatch is fuelling a wave of homegrown haircare startups.
Archana Jahagirdar, Founder and Managing Partner of Rukam Capital, explains this shift in the Indian personal care space — from generic solutions to specialised products catering to different segments of users.
“Over the next few years, I see two standout trends — building solutions for Indian hair texture and type, and reducing the number of haircare steps while achieving maximum effect,” she says.
Funding trends, too, reflect this shift. According to market intelligence platform Tracxn, Indian haircare startups raised $78.6 million between 2019 and 2026. Funding peaked in 2024 at $27.1 million across 14 rounds, before easing to $21.1 million across six rounds in 2025. In the first fortnight of this year, the startups have raised $3.28 million across two rounds.
Nikita Khanna, Founder of Moxie Beauty, says her company set out to fill a crucial gap in the Indian haircare market. “As women moved away from heavy oiling and began wearing their hair open, issues like frizz, dryness, and texture became more pronounced in India’s hot, humid, and dusty climate. Unlike skincare and makeup, which have adapted to Indian needs, haircare lagged due to the technical complexity of formulation and R&D,” she explains.
With data showing that nearly 70 per cent of Indians experience dandruff at some point due to extreme weather conditions, Moxie, launched in 2023, focused on innovation in scalp care to develop formulations that go beyond flake removal to restore the skin barrier. While the products are developed and manufactured in India, the company imports several patented ingredients, Khanna says.
She says the bulk of Moxie Beauty’s sales comes from its website and other online marketplaces, although the brand is expanding offline too. Khanna says there is also growing demand from Indian diaspora in West Asia and the US.
Moxie Beauty recently raised $15 million in a Series A funding round for product development and R&D.
A curly enterprise
XO Curls founder Tanya Eldred Bhat says her venture came from her own struggle with frizz-prone wavy hair.
The company began in 2020 by manufacturing a wide-toothed detangling comb. The bootstrapped startup has since sold over 1.2 lakh combs, generating ₹23 lakh revenue in the first year.
“Over 80 per cent of Indians have wavy or curly hair, yet most products are made for straight or non-Indian hair types,” she says. Her company now makes a full range of products formulated for Indian wavy and curly hair.
She says her core customers are digitally savvy women over 30, and they mainly buy the products online.
The company has also piloted sales through a small network of speciality salons in Bengaluru, which currently fetches about 5 per cent of revenue. Internationally, the brand sells in the US and UAE through e-commerce platforms.
Bhat says the startup currently has 18 SKUs, with new launches, including a hair mask and a volumising mousse, under development.
XO Curls doubled its revenue between FY24 and FY25, driven by the launch of a shampoo and conditioner in 2023. From around ₹50 lakh in FY24, revenue rose to over ₹1 crore in FY25, and is expected to reach about ₹1.7 crore in FY26 and ₹2.5 crore in FY27.
Another startup, &Done, emerged from co-founder Saumya Yadav’s post-partum experience with hairfall, dryness, and frizz. “I would use professional haircare products, only to be disappointed in most cases… formulas made for women in Paris or New York, whose hair is thinner and lifestyle is different,” she says.
Made for Salons
&Done’s formulations, designed for Indian consumers, use globally sourced active ingredients.
The company adopted a salon-first strategy, launching its flagship salon, Biotech Core Restore, to repair internal hair bonds. Yadav says the brand has largely replaced Olaplex, the market leader in the hair repair segment, across 500 premium salons in Delhi NCR, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Hyderabad.
&Done has since also launched a shampoo, conditioner, and serum. Around 50 per cent of its revenue comes from direct-to-consumer sales.
The startup recently raised $3 million in a Series A funding round to scale up its research and product development efforts, expand the salon network, and invest in brand building.
Yadav says that while the salon vertical is profitable, the D2C business is currently running at a loss — mainly due to branding and team expenses — but moving in the right direction.
Sporty needs
“In a crowded D2C haircare market driven by trends, we have been focusing more on practical solutions for Indian lifestyles. Our range is focused on everyday hair concerns like frequent washing, sweat, dehydration, pH imbalance, and hard water,” says Shaily Kataruka, Founder and CEO, The Earth Collective.
The bootstrapped startup’s fastest-growing consumer segment comprises professional athletes, recreational swimmers and gym-goers who need haircare that can guard against frequent washing, sweat, and environmental exposure, minus harsh and harmful chemicals.
The Earth Collective has over 40 SKUs and manufactures in-house at its 28,000 sq ft unit in Kolkata. Thanks to parent company Loren Beautifiers Private Limited’s experience in the export market, the startup has access to global partners for its ingredients.
Digital outreach
Companies such as Moxie and XO Curls are relying on education-led, digital-first marketing to build awareness around the different hair types. Their core audience is digitally native, younger consumers. The brands use video content to explain hair classification, care routines and product use.
On the challenges facing the haircare startups, Jahagirdar points to the need for intensive R&D, specialised formulations, and a deep understanding of consumer needs. Unlike commoditised cosmetics, the creation of personalised formulations increases ongoing capital requirements, although high margins persist due to the low manufacturing costs in India.
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Published on January 19, 2026
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