Exclusive: Airblack raises new money led by Dell Foundation

Online makeup and beauty learning platform Airblack has raised $4 million in its pre-series B round led by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and with participation from other existing investors. The funding has come after a gap of 17 months for the Gurugram-based company.

The board at Airblack has passed a resolution to issue 10 equity and 4,467 pre-series B CCPS at an issue price of Rs 71,162 each to raise Rs 32 crore or $4 million, regularly filing sourced from the Registrar of Companies shows.

Michael & Susan Dell Foundation led the round with Rs 16.32 crore while Elevation Capital and Info Edge (via Beacon Trusteeship) participated with Rs 6.33 crore each. Blume Ventures (via Catalyst Trusteeship), Thadani, and Pawar Family Trust invested the remaining sum.

Each of the pre-series B CCPS will be converted into equity shares subject to its conversion ratio. The company will use this amount for working capital requirements, general corporate purposes, and business expansion, according to the filings.

According to TheKredible estimates, the company has been valued at around Rs 190 crore or $23 million (post-allotment).

Following the latest fundraise, Elevation Capital is the largest external stakeholder with 27.07% share followed by Info Edge and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation which own 13.49% and 8.63% shares, respectively. Its founder Videt Jaiswal commands 18.74% share whereas the firm’s ESOP pool consists of 21.56%.

Airblack started as a travel company but later pivoted to the beauty segment after the pandemic brought travel businesses to a standstill. The company has raised around $11 million to date. As per the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, its revenue from operations stood at Rs 9 crore with a loss of Rs 20.1 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2023.

Muthukaleeshwaran Subbiah and Shailesh Daxini-led Vah Vah were one of the close competitors of Airblack. However, Vah Vah has reportedly been shut down along with more than 150 employees laid off in July this year.