“Hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery”, these famous lines from the Ithaka poem by C.P Cavafy have given a new life to Falguni Nayar. Falguni Nayar, the founder of the famous beauty brand Nykaa came across these lines when her daughter shared it with her. Falguni was pushed to the brink by the poetry, she resolved to make her dreams a reality.
Wealthiest self-made female billionaire
Falguni Nayar has been in the news since its stock market debut. Falguni has now become India’s wealthiest self-made female billionaire, says the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The success came to Falguni after Nykaa’s shares made a strong stock market debut.
Debuted with a hefty premium
FSN E-Commerce Ventures is Nykaa’s parent company. It is India’s first woman-led unicorn to be listed on the stock exchange. Shares of FSN E-Commerce Ventures debuted with a hefty premium of more than 79% over the issue price of Rs 1,125.
On the BSE, the company’s shares opened at Rs 2,001, up 77.86%. Following that, it was increased by 89.24% to Rs 2,129. It was listed on the NSE at Rs 2,018 with a premium of 79.37%. The company’s market capitalization on the BSE was Rs 97,754.06 crore.
FSN E-commerce Ventures’ initial public offering (IPO) earlier this month received 81.78 times more applications. The price range for the Rs 5,352 crore IPO was Rs 1,085-1,125 per share.
Started by investment banker
Nykaa, the beauty brand was founded in the year 2012 by Falguni Nayar. Falguni is a former investment banker. Nykaa, the woman-led unicorn sells over 4,000 beauty, personal care, and fashion brands through its website, app, and 80 plus brick-and-mortar stores.
Born in business environment
Falguni Nayar was born in Mumbai and raised in a business family. Her father ran a small bearings business. Her mother used to help him in his business. Being born in a business environment, Falguni always had a business mind and wanted to start her own business.
Falguni’s career
Falguni enrolled in IIM Ahmedabad after finishing high school. She then began her career as a consultant with A.F. Ferguson & Co. after graduating from IIM Ahmedabad.
After that, Falguni began working at Kotak Mahindra Capital. She was promoted to Managing Director of her division in 2005 as a result of her hard work. After this, in the year 2012, she started the beauty brand, Nykaa.
Wanted to have an idea that was ahead of its time
“I was always looking to have an idea that was ahead of its time so that I get a chance to build on that before the Tatas, Birla, and Ambanis identify it,” says Falguni, the founder & CEO of Nykaa.
47 percent of female employees
Falguni is the country’s richest self-made woman. Her company employs 47% of women. In terms of market capitalization, Nykaa is the 53rd most valuable company in the country. It is backed by companies such as Coal India, SBI Card, Hindalco, Godrej Consumer, Bharat Petroleum, and Britannia.
