INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Nykaa CEO says, VCs without women in top-level struggle in women-centric businessNew Delhi: Venture capitalist firms that do not have women
in decision-making positions find it difficult to understand a women-centric business, a top official of beauty and wellness e-commerce
platform Nykaa said on Saturday.Nykaa CEO Adwaita Nayar at a FICCI event said that the founders of her company approached several investors
but were rejected because of the absence of women in critical positions in venture capitalist firms."We must have spoken to over a 100
investors in the early days
All of them said no-no, we are not interested
The same investors who now are super interested
I think a large part of the problem is that a lot of these venture capital firms don't have women in investment positions
If you don't have women making decisions on the other side, then you don't really understand women-centric business," Nayar said.She and her
mother Falguni Nayar co-founded the business, and her brothers joined the business around three years back."I think, honestly for me, really
sensing the biases towards women has come in subtle ways over the last 9-10 years," Nayar said.Nayar said that when the company approached
bankers for the initial public offer and at one point in time, she noticed that bankers were complimenting her brother for building up the
business when she intervened and told them that she had helped in building up the business for Nykaa."At one point in time, I had to stop
I helped build this business
So you have to make yourself be heard
You have to take up space
You have to stand up because there are biased seasons
They do crop up," Nayar said.Nykaa, which focuses on beauty, fashion and personal care commerce, has posted about a 57 per cent decline in
consolidated profit after tax to Rs 29 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2021, after it more than doubled its marketing expense
to acquire customers.The company had registered a PAT of Rs 68.9 crore in the same period a year ago.
