Inde Wild has closed a seed extension round of $5 million to help fuel its global Sephora partnership, The Business of Beauty has learned. The round was led by Unilever Ventures, with SoGal Ventures and True Global Ventures also participating.
The funds will help the brand, founded in October 2021 by influencer Diipa Büller-Khosla and her husband Oleg Büller-Khosla in Mumbai, expand its partnership with the LVMH-owned retailer, with a launch into Sephora US planned for early 2026. (The brand launched into Sephora UK in late 2024.)
Inde Wild initially launched direct-to-consumer in North America and the UK on the strength of Khosla’s 2.3 million social following. It entered India via Nykaa in 2022, a move that reflects the brand’s ambitions to simultaneously build its credibility at home and abroad.
“We wanted to be that global Indian brand that was serving my community without thinking of anything else,” Büller-Khosla told The Business of Beauty. “It was really that naive of an idea.”
The brand’s skin and hair formulas are marketed on their clinical results but also enshrine traditionally Indian rituals and ingredients; Büller-Khosla offers the examples of the Champi Hair Oil, the number one hair oil at Nykaa, or the Rose Sun Mist, a zinc oxide SPF with the consistency of rosewater.
“Three years in, we have six SKUs,” she said. “We really take our time with our product launches.” The Büller-Khoslas credit the brand’s community on streamlining their offerings. For example, they’ve yet to create a cleanser and moisturizer, staple products for other skincare brands, because their fans haven’t asked for them yet. Büller-Khosla estimates that the brand has conducted 65 focus groups since its inception.
Before they started the brand, the couple met with Rachael Harris, a partner at Unilever Ventures, for advice. “Then every six or nine months she’d check in,” Khosla said. “She’d always be like, ‘You guys are tiny, but I believe in you.’” The founders went back to Harris before raising their latest round; she now sits on the board of the company.
Harris was delighted to partner with the couple in an official capacity. Citing its “highly-engaged communities,” Harris said the brand is “redefining what it means to be an Ayurvedic brand in today’s world.”
For the initial launch, the Büller-Khoslas fundraised from friends and fans, including a who’s who of beauty and retail’s best: Nina Patel (ex-Farfetch), Umaimah Sharwani (ex-Glossier) and Richa Goswami (ex-Johnson and Johnson). In 2022, the brand closed a $3 million investment from SoGal Ventures, which also topped off the recent seed extension.
Inde Wild “is more than a beauty brand,” said Pocket Sun, managing partner at SoGal Ventures. “It’s a symbol of the global South Asian community’s rise.”
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