VLCC, a beauty and skincare brand, has acquired Happily Unmarried Marketing Private Ltd, which owns the men’s grooming brand Ustraa, through a combination of secondary buy-out and share swap.

The acquisition deal will help VLCC to enter the men’s grooming segment. Additionally, VLCC’s existing product business will benefit from Ustraa’s tech and digital expertise to scale up in new-age commerce.

VLCC Acquires Ustraa

Founded by Rahul Anand and Rajat Tuli in 2015, Ustraa is a D2C men’s grooming startup having 85+ SKUs across fragrances, hair care, and face and beard care.

The startup claims its products are formulated in its in-house lab and are completely free of SLS, PARABENS and other harmful chemicals. In September 2022, Ustraa raised Rs 16.8 Cr (approximately $2.1 Mn) in a strategic funding round led by Info Edge’s subsidiary Startup Investments.

Speaking about the development, Rahul Anand and Rajat Tuli, Founders of Ustraa, said,

“VLCC represents a perfect strategic partner to help us broaden our customer reach, especially in offline retail. VLCC’s strong management, well supported by Carlyle globally, brings the resources and sector expertise, which can enable us to significantly grow our brand further and expand the range of products. We believe our combined expertise in brand building, sales and marketing and distribution will create faster growth for both brands, and we are excited to embark on the journey forward as part of the VLCC family.” 

Founded by Vandana Luthra and Mukesh Luthra, VLCC started as a beauty and weight management services centre in 1989. Now, it now has expanded into the Skincare, Beauty & Wellness Industry in India.

VLCC Group’s operations currently span 310 locations in 139 cities and 11 countries. Post-acquisition, VLCC will make further investments to accelerate the growth of Ustraa.

Commenting on the development, Vikas Gupta, CEO of VLCC, said,

“This acquisition marks VLCC’s foray into men’s grooming market, and our aim is to accelerate Ustraa’s growth journey by leveraging VLCC’s pan-India offline distribution. In parallel, VLCC’s existing product business will benefit from Ustraa’s tech and digital expertise to scale up in new age commerce.”

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