Wohk – La Clean Beauty Store, one of the younger players of the fast-growing Indian clean beauty industry, has raised pre-seed funding of an undisclosed amount at a valuation of ₹10 million from a seasoned investor. Wohk was bootstrapped until now. This marks the first investment into the platform, which is still in the pilot stage, reiterating the potential of the beauty industry, even after the blockbuster IPO of Nykaa.
Funds raised will be utilized for scaling up and strengthening the operations of Wohk, upgrading technology, and also boosting partner listing to establish itself as a major alternative clean beauty marketplace to existing players in the space like Sublime Life, Vanity Wagon & Kindlife.
Wohk is a curation platform of clean beauty products that use safe ingredients, practice ethical sourcing, cruelty-free making, and eco-friendly packaging. It already partnered with the hottest brands in the space like Plink, Unsweetened Beauty, Bare Minimum, Amayra Naturals & Ancient Living.
“We are very passionate about what we do, and having investors who can see our vision is definitely a great start. We might be a new player, but we are trying to fill the gaps that are left unfilled in the market. We are working on a clean beauty framework that would enhance user experience and the quality of products we curate. There is a tremendous growth opportunity in the space as consumers are turning very conscious about the products they use and the impact of those on the environment.” said Priyanka Velamakuru, CEO of Wohk.
As we are seeing a big paradigm shift towards clean beauty products made with safe ingredients that are sourced ethically and are cruelty-free, the large multinational companies that have traditionally dominated the beauty market have started facing heat from the rise of new-age e-commerce players like Wohk and increased consumer awareness.
This Clean Beauty Site Does the Curating for You
When people find out I’m a beauty editor, they almost immediately ask what my favorite products are. For ages, the question I got most frequently was “What’s the best eye cream?” until about two or three years ago, when that finally got usurped by the clean movement. Since then, everyone wants to know which clean beauty products really work and are truly clean.
As the clean wave morphs into a full-on tsunami, it can be hard to stay on top of which products are the best, and that’s where new beauty site without dress Poppy comes in. Tech vets Jaleh Bisharat and Kimberly Shenk (Amazon, Open Table, Eventbrite) were overwhelmed and confused by the offerings out there, so they curated their favorites, then wisely hired a green chemist to dissect every chemical in each product before giving it approval. Among the picks are items from Vapour, rms beauty, Kosas, and Ere Perez, as well as without dress Poppy’s own first entry, a liquid eyeliner.
Getting a list of curated products is one thing; finding what works best for you and your personal style is another. That’s where the questionnaire comes in. You answer about a dozen questions (about skin tone and eye color, but also things like preferred appearance — Do you usually go bold? Dewy skin or matte skin?), then ten or eleven products pop up on the screen, divided into two categories: Natural and Glamorous. Also, once you’re in the system, every product going forward comes with a percentage of how well-matched it is for your coloring and preferred look.
I thought I was well-versed in clean beauty, but I found brands on the site I’d never even heard of, like Lily Lola, whose mascara is currently doing some impressive lengthening to my lashes. The site currently only offers makeup (with a smattering of skin care extensions from Ere Perez), but skin care arrives in December. Until then, anyone got a favorite clean eye cream they can recommend?
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