Pilgrim, the direct-to-consumer (D2C) personal care brand, reported a substantial increase in operating revenue for the fiscal year 2022-23. The revenue surged to INR 76.46 crore, marking a significant fourfold rise from the INR 16.89 crore reported in FY22.
Despite reporting a net loss that more than tripled to INR 23.06 crore from INR 7.53 crore in the corresponding period, the company, backed by Fireside Ventures, attributed this increase to a substantial rise in expenses. According to the statutory filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), expenses ballooned to INR 99.95 crore in FY23 from INR 24.72 crore in FY22.
During the fiscal year 2023, Pilgrim’s marketing expenses surged to INR 52.50 crore, a significant increase from the INR 11.83 crore recorded in FY22. Notably, the marketing expenditure in FY23 accounted for 68% of the operating revenue of this Mumbai-based company.
As per a collaborative study conducted by Redseer Strategy Consultants and Peak XV Partners, the beauty and personal care (BPC) market in India is anticipated to surpass global counterparts, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% from 2022 to 2027. The projection indicates that the market is poised to achieve a size of $30 billion during this period.
Pilgrim competes with prominent beauty and personal care (BPC) players such as Mamaearth, Purplle, Sugar Cosmetics, Myglamm, and Mcaffeine. It also contends with a variety of emerging direct-to-consumer brands that have flourished in this space.
Established in 2019 by Anurag Kedia and Gagandeep Makker, alumni of IIT, Pilgrim secured $20 million in funding in September through a funding round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India.
In the same funding round, existing investors Fireside Ventures and Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office also participated. Approximately $14 million of the overall funding was generated through a primary share sale, with the remaining amount attributed to a secondary transaction. During this period, the company expressed its goal of reaching an annualized revenue run rate (ARR) of INR 1,000 crore by 2025.
Pilgrim had additionally announced its intention to inaugurate five exclusive outlets by the year’s end, strategically located in cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, and New Delhi.
As of September, Pilgrim’s offline footprint encompassed the availability of its products in 300 partner stores specializing in beauty and personal care (BPC) products.
