How Innovist is Changing the Face of Indian Personal Care with Technology and Innovation

Innovist, the parent company of Bare Anatomy, Chemist at Play, and SunScoop, was founded by Rohit Chawla, Sifat Khurana, and Vimal Bhola, in 2018. The company has been betting big on innovation. Venturing into all three segments - skin care, hair care, and sun care, every product of the company is backed by science, having its own research and development laboratory while investing in the systematic study of the skin care needs of the consumer.

The Indian market has always been lagging in terms of research-led products, in an attempt to reduce this gap the founders came up with a way to build products in India in a way it is easily accessible by consumers across. With innovation being their forte, the brand has brought in numerous products by merely innovating in the formula itself, disrupting the said categories.

“Ingredients keep changing as a trend, the real science gets lost in the way. The intent to begin this company was to go to the very depth of it and transform the industry from the ground up,” Rohit Chawla, Founder and CEO, Innovist said.

“During the course of four years we have built a lot of knowledge around product development, with our own R&D center and manufacturing capabilities now, we feel extremely confident about our future,” he further added.

Innovations Galore

With innovation as its backbone, Innovist introduced products not familiar to the Indian markets like hair tonics with Bare Anatomy, mineral sunscreen with SunScoop, and body lotions with actives for Chemist at Play. “Innovation is constant for us; we keep innovating as per the needs of our consumers, and having direct control over the quality of our products is a key differentiator,” explained Chawla.

Having its own R&D centers and a scientist on board as a fellow founder allows the company to play around with innovation without any third-party interference. Sourcing ingredients from across the globe and with every product undergoing numerous clinical trials, the company focuses on bringing forth products that can be backed with data.

Market Strategy

Being D2C from inception, the three brands of Innovist - Bare Anatomy, Chemist at Play, and SunScoop - have been growing 100 percent.

“While introducing a company that is non-conventional such as ours, one needs feedback much faster. D2C aided the same in comparison to going via some other channel, accelerating our learning on the way. Being direct to the customer has rewarded our company with around 60 percent of our revenue coming via the said channel,” added Chawla.

Gaining a positive customer response, Innovist has partnered with Dabur, New U in the north, and Health and Glow in the south, while simultaneously working with Reliance and Le Marche. Owing to its availability on Amazon and Nykaa, Innovist is almost omnichannel, however, according to the founder and CEO; the company will be focusing on offline retail in the coming months while simultaneously growing its D2C channel.

Investment and Funding

In the year 2022, the company raised pre-series A funding of $3.2 million. The round was led by existing investors Accel Partners and 72 Ventures, along with the participation of numerous investors including Sauce (Manu Chandra) and Arihant Patni (Patni Family Office), Jani Ventures Inc, Nihir Parikh, Rashmi Kwatra (Sixteen Street Capital), Kunal Shah (Cred), Alok Mittal, and Shripad Nadkarni (Maverix Platforms & Fingerlix).

The company reportedly is actively deploying the said funds in strengthening its team, marketing, and production with a major focus on research and development.

Future Plans

The company now in its fourth year has seen undeniable growth, more so amidst the pandemic with the world shifting online. Taking on a D2C approach, it was able to garner the required attention to build upon its customer base.

“From the beginning of the current year, our company has grown thrice of what it was in terms of our revenue,” asserted Chawla.

“Going ahead, we plan to serve the consumers while constantly taking their feedback and adding products based on the needs and gaps. We are not expecting any drastic change; since innovation is the core for us, we plan on taking forward the same,” he further added.

With the oncoming winters, Innovist is set to launch a new body lotion variant with Bare Anatomy. This product is set to hit the market along with a mineral sunscreen from SunScoop.

Already available in a few countries, the brand is growing cautiously. Even though Innovist plans to venture out into the international market, Chawla believes there is still a lot to be done for the Indian market.

“Within the next five years we hope our brands to be present in everyone’s house,” concluded Rohit Chawla.