The company is now aiming to enter new markets, deepen its product assortment, and localize its supply chain
Bengaluru: Men’s grooming market is now in full swing, fueled by the relentless churn of social media trends and influencer culture. What was once a niche corner of the aisle has exploded into a full-blown phenomenon, with serums, sheet masks, and under-eye rollers finding their way into the everyday routines of the modern man.
India’s male grooming market, pegged at $2.1 billion in 2023, is on a sharp upward curve—expected to nearly double and hit $4.1 billion by 2032, growing at a steady 7.2% CAGR, as per IMARC Group.
Much of this momentum kicked in during the pandemic years when everyone started taking personal care more seriously.
That’s around the time Bombay Shaving Company (BSC) really came into its own. Founded back in 2016 by Shantanu Deshpande, alongside Raunak Munot, Deepu Panicker, and Rohit Jaiswal, the brand zeroed in on one core mission: redefining hair removal for men.
Fast-forward to today, this Gurugram-based disruptor boasts a lineup of 75–80 thoughtfully crafted products and a growing team of over 220 people.
Birth of Bombay Shaving Company
BSC was established with a mission to disrupt the traditional grooming market in India. Sparked by the rise of direct-to-consumer brands like Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s in the US, the founders saw a similar opportunity to challenge legacy players like Gillette in India.
They noticed a gap: younger Indian consumers were looking for grooming products that felt modern, personalised, and relevant.
“We saw a clear shift in the Indian consumer—particularly among the 16 to 30 age group—who no longer wanted to use the same brands their fathers or grandfathers did. Today’s consumers want brands they can engage with, relate to, and feel represented by,” said Deepak Gupta, Co-Founder & COO at Bombay Shaving Company, in an exclusive interview with IndiaRetailing.
They had rolled out its first product— a six-part metal shaving kit, priced at around Rs 3,500.
“Deshpande comes from a McKinsey background, which helped us gain early support from a strong network. In fact, around 25 McKinsey partners participated as angel investors in our initial rounds, along with contributions from the founding team,” added Gupta.
Since its inception, the brand completed six rounds of funding, amounting to nearly $48.8 million and brought on board some major names like Colgate-Palmolive and Reckitt Benckiser.
Gupta joined the company in late 2018, at a time when it was generating around Rs 50–60 lakh in monthly revenue, primarily through the D2C channel, with a small portfolio of 8-10 products and a team of about 20-25 people.
“The name Bombay in Bombay Shaving Company was a strategic choice. Back in 2015–2016, when we were building a digital-first brand, we researched the most searched India-related terms on Google. The top ones were Gandhi, Taj Mahal, Himalaya, and Bombay. The first three weren’t viable as brand names, but Bombay stood out.
It resonated deeply with our brand ethos—a name that felt aspirational yet grounded, modern yet rooted in cultural richness. Bombay, as a city, symbolises diversity, ambition, and inclusivity—qualities we wanted our brand to reflect.”
Branching out
By 2020, at the height of the pandemic, BSC had evolved from its original six-part shaving kit to a 60+ product portfolio, spanning hair oils, trimmers, face care, and more. With its strong online presence, the brand was better positioned than many traditional players to navigate the crisis.
In the same year, with salons and spas shut due to the pandemic, the founders thought of entering the women’s segment to address the need for at-home hair removal solutions. In Q3 2020, it launched Bombae, a dedicated women’s hair removal and personal care brand.
Going forward, BSC will continue to innovate across formats based on consumer preferences. “There’s still tremendous opportunity in this space, considering there are nearly 28–30 crore men who shave in India, and an equally large number of women who frequent salons for hair removal services,” Gupta said.
Go-to-market channels
Apart from its D2C website, the brand now retails across multiple channels including marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, and Meesho and quick commerce platforms such as Zepto, BlinkIt, Flipkart Minutes, Instamart, and BBNow.
Offline, it is present across all key modern trade formats in India and cover general trade in the top 25 cities. It has also started building its own retail footprint, with 14 exclusive kiosks—three of which are located at airports in Mumbai, Chennai, and Pune.
“As of now, around 70% of our business comes from online channels and 30% from offline. We expect this ratio to remain largely consistent over the next 2–3 years—possibly shifting slightly to 65:35,” Gupta said.
Planet-positive
BSC recently launched Eco Razor, which is fully made in India using locally sourced materials like coconut shell, bamboo and agricultural stubble.
“If you look at the razor market in India, about 70–75% of razors sold by volume are plastic, despite nearly 70% of Indians—both men and women—shaving in some form. This presents an opportunity to offer more eco-friendly alternatives,” Gupta said.
“We might be the first brand to introduce a sustainable razor system developed entirely with Indian inputs. Also, we’ve begun manufacturing our electric trimmers in India and made significant investments in localising our supply chain,” he added.
The brand also takes conscious steps like using recyclable packaging, reducing material usage, and formulating products without harmful chemicals like SLS and parabens.
Outreach tactics
BSC currently allocates around 25–35% of its revenue to marketing.
Deshpande hosts a podcast called BarberShop with Shantanu, aimed at entrepreneurial young Indians. They also create youth-focused content like Razor IP, a reality-TV-style street contest. Moreover, it has lately collaborated with travel gear brand Mokobara on a co-branded shaving kit.
“Over the years, we have realised that male consumers—unlike women—rarely rely on word of mouth, so we have focused on speaking to them directly,” Gupta said. “We plan to continue these kinds of engaging initiatives throughout the year.”
Roadmap for growth
Looking forward, the brand is preparing to broaden its market footprint.
“Quick commerce will continue to deepen its presence, expanding from 70–80 cities to over 100 and increasing pin code coverage over the next 1–2 years,” said Gupta. “Once that’s underway, we plan to scale our general trade presence from 25 to 100 cities over 3–5 years. In modern trade, we’re already in 70% of key stores and aim to reach the remaining 30%.”
“As for our own retail stores, we plan to grow from the current 14 to 100 outlets over the next 2–3 years,” he further added.
In its lifetime, the brand has served nearly 25 million consumers. “Over the next three years, our goal is to reach 100 million consumers,” said Gupta
At present, BSC is generating Rs 300 crore in revenue and is targeting a Rs 500 crore annual run rate (ARR) by the end of FY2026. At this pace, reaching Rs 1,000 crore by FY2030—or possibly even earlier—seems within reach.
The company also aspires to be IPO-ready within the next 3 years.
“As a consumer brand built for India, and with our competitors already listed, we see a strong opportunity to create value for retail investors. Whether we actually go public remains to be seen, but becoming IPO-ready is definitely the goal,” Gupta explained.
