Minimalist is one of the outliers in the Indian direct-to-consumer space as the company demonstrated remarkable financial performance in the last two fiscal years. Its revenue blew 8X to Rs 184 crore in FY23 from Rs 22 crore in FY21 and the Jaipur-based company remained profitable since FY21.
Minimalist’s revenue from operations spiked 70.3% to Rs 184 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2023 from Rs 108 crore in FY22, its consolidated financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows.
Financial FY23
Founded by serial entrepreneur Mohit and Rahul Yadav, Minimalist offers products for skin and hair such as serums, toners, and moisturizers. It retails through its own website, along with e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Nykaa, Flipkart, Myntra, and others.
The sale of its products was the only source of revenue for the firm in FY23.
Similar to other D2C skincare and beauty brands, advertising cum promotion cost formed 36% of the overall expenditure which soared 2X to Rs 65 crore in FY23 from Rs 33 crore in FY22. As scale grew, its cost of procurement also elevated by 72% to Rs 50 crore in FY23.
Its employee benefits, distribution cost, legal cum professional fees, and other overheads catalyzed its total expenditure by 2X to Rs 180 crore in FY23 as compared to Rs 90 crore in FY22.
See TheKredible for the detailed expense breakup.
Expense Breakdown
https://thekredible.com/company/minimalist/financials
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https://thekredible.com/company/minimalist/financials
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- Cost of material consumed
- Employee benefits
- Advertising promotional expenses
- Distribution cost
- Others
Even as the scale rose in the previous fiscal, the spurt in advertising and employee benefits compromised its profit which shrank 68% to Rs 5 crore in FY23. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin stood at 4% and 3% respectively. On a unit level, it spent Rs 0.98 to earn a rupee in FY23.
FY22-FY23
| FY22 | FY23 |
| Expense/Rupee of ops revenue | ₹0.83 | ₹0.98 |
| ROCE | 14% | 4% |
| EBITDA Margin | 14% | 3% |
Minimalist has raised around $16 million to date including its Series A round led by Peak XV (formerly Sequoia Capital). According to the data intelligence platform TheKredible, Peak XV is the largest external stakeholder with a 27.9% stake. Its co-founders Mohit and Rahul Yadav command 62% of the company.
Minimalist’s name seems to be well reflected in the design aesthetics of the firm’s packaging, that is almost pharmaceutical like. Growth is powered by its hair growth offerings, backed by a strong social campaign and spends. Priced at par or even a premium to many prescription products in the category, (the hair serums come with a dropper to avoid wasting the precious fluid), Minimalist is on to a good thing while it lasts. Because what we have seen with miracle hairfall and growth solutions is that they inevitably fade out or plateau in sales. Minimalist’s success so far with not just its bottomline but having a strong flagship product places it apart on the D2Cc category. Not to mention the hope it could kindle in millions of prospective customers the longer it can maintain it. We will wait and see how this plays out.
