Beauty and personal care (BPC) startup RENEE Cosmetics’ cofounder and CEO Ashutosh Valani told Inc42 that the brand cut its FY26 net loss by 46% to ₹36 Cr from ₹67 Cr incurred in the previous fiscal year.
Valani said that the D2C beauty startup’s operating revenue for the fiscal jumped about 38% to ₹440 Cr from ₹320 Cr reported in the previous year. At the same time, its expenses grew 45% to ₹290 Cr from ₹200 Cr a year prior.
The uptick in the startup’s top line helped it cut its EBITDA margin to -8% from -21% in FY25.
The improvement in the brand’s margins was driven by notable improvement in its offline sales and repeat purchases. The CEO shared that RENEE’s focus on offline retail is crucial, as 84% of the BPC startup’s beauty sales happen via physical stores. This is because its customers prefer trying makeup products before purchasing them.
Valani said that the startup focused on heavy offline expansion by investing in setting up presence in “shop-in-shop”, wholesale retail along with other modern trade outlets.
In FY26, RENEE’s offline sales contributed about 35% of its revenue. Meanwhile, 35% of its revenue is still driven by online sales on marketplaces like Nykaa, Flipkart and Amazon.
The remainder of its sales during the fiscal came from quick commerce (15%) and its own website (15%).
“We are seeing strong offtake from offline stores due to a healthy demand and a strong brand pull. From here, we believe the business can grow another 40-50% in FY27,” he said.
He expects the startup to turn profitable in FY27 as it scales the offline vertical further. He believes there is enough headroom to expand offline when compared with online expansion.
The cofounder noted that the online business is already profitable, but because of the investments required for offline distribution, the startup’s expenses have remained elevated.
“It takes about four to five years for a good digital brand to lay out the brand scale, foundation, and offline team. And now that we have done that successfully, I think from here on this is not going to act as a startup but a very profitable business,” he said.