L’Oréal announced on Thursday that it would acquire a majority stake in Innovist. While the companies did not disclose financial details, people familiar with the transaction told ET that the deal values the Gurugram-based startup at around Rs 4,100 crore.
The acquisition surpasses Hindustan Unilever‘s purchase of Peak XV Partners-backed skincare brand Minimalist at a Rs 2,955 crore valuation in January last year, making it the largest D2C acquisition in India.
Sauce VC, which first backed Innovist in 2019, has realised around Rs 450-500 crore in cash from the transaction, translating into an estimated eight-fold blended return across its investments, the people said. The consumer-focused fund, which has also backed startups such as Mokobara and The Whole Truth, participated in multiple funding rounds, including Innovist’s April 2025 raise at a Rs 1,200-1,300 crore valuation.
OTP Ventures, another early investor, has generated nearly a 40x return on its Rs 25 lakh investment, while ICICI Venture is estimated to have realised around Rs 300-350 crore from the deal, they added.
Accel, which first invested in Innovist in 2021, deployed around Rs 7-8 crore across multiple rounds and exited its investment last year with an estimated seven-fold return, according to the people. Amazon, which invested around Rs 19 crore, has made returns of Rs 160-180 crore, translating into an 8-9x return, the people said.
Queries sent to ICICI Venture, Sauce VC, OTP Ventures, Chawla and L’Oréal did not elicit a response. Accel did not respond to ET’s queries. Chawla did not respond to multiple attempts reaching out for comments.
Chawla and his cofounders, Vimal Bhola and Sifat Khurana, together owned about 45% of Innovist before the transaction and are collectively selling roughly 20-22% of the company, the people said. Chawla alone sold around a 17% stake and will continue to lead the business for at least two years under the terms of the agreement, they added.
In a statement announcing the acquisition, L’Oréal said the Innovist founding team would remain minority shareholders and continue to operate and scale the business in collaboration with L’Oréal India. The French company has also secured rights to acquire the remaining minority stake over time.
For Chawla, the transaction marks his second major exit in the personal care space. He previously cofounded The Man Company, which was fully acquired by Emami in 2024 after the Kolkata-based FMCG company first picked up a strategic stake in 2017. Chawla is estimated to have made around Rs 400 crore from that exit, according to people familiar with the matter.
The deal also delivers a significant outcome for Innovist’s venture backers. Sauce VC’s first investment came when the company was valued at around Rs 25 crore, making its earliest cheque one of the highest-multiple bets in its portfolio. Accel had exited its entire holding before the L’Oréal transaction, the people said.
The acquisition comes as large consumer companies increasingly use M&A to strengthen their presence in beauty, personal care and wellness by buying digital-first brands that have achieved scale and are expanding offline. HUL’s acquisition of Minimalist was among the clearest signals of this trend, alongside strategic deals involving Wellbeing Nutrition, Oziva, Plix and Yogabar.
For investors in D2C startups, Innovist represents a rare large cash exit at a time when IPO markets remain selective and many consumer internet companies have seen valuation resets. The deal also underscores the willingness of strategic acquirers to pay premium valuations for brands that have moved beyond early online growth and can benefit from larger distribution networks.