While wearing makeup, do you feel guilty of harming your skin and also the environment? A part of you strongly wishes to have cosmetics indigenously produced, understanding the Indian skin and don’t take a toll on anyone in the process. Nevertheless, even if your intentions are for a greater cause, the struggle to get them remains unresolved.
But what if we say that you wished and the universe conspired! Intrigued?
Before we spill the beans, meet Shweta Gupta and Darshana Balagopal. Their brainchild Aardae is India’s first curator to put homegrown brands on the global map and bring top international conscious beauty brands along. It is built on the ethos of beauty brands that swear by environmental sustainability and ethical production of cosmetic products.
Before becoming business partners, these two dynamic young Indian women entrepreneurs share a solid foundation as friends for years. Both confess having a fetish for a few international beauty brands. However, they never imagined nor anticipated how the pandemic that disrupted lives globally would work as a catalyst behind the genesis of their startup. During the initial months of the pandemic, they couldn’t procure some of their favorite international beauty brands, and this led them sourcing Indian products.
“We were highly impressed by the efficacy of the brands we discovered. And it was our eureka moment. We pondered- what if we create a platform that would give these excellent homegrown products the international reach they deserve?“ Shweta and Darshana shared to Life Beyond Numbers.
But why the name, “Aardae’. Is there any special significance attached to it?
“Aardae means ‘Earth’ in Dutch. And thus, we strive to mirror Earth’s beauty philosophy through a unique platform. It routes through a carefully curated catalog of over 40 high performance indigenous and international conscious beauty brands that specialize in clean, organic, ethically-sourced, cruelty-free, and sustainable products.“
India has been witnessing a steep rise in the demand for everything organic in recent years. And in the last 19 months, such inclination has been augmented by manifolds. Organic cosmetics and homegrown brands, does Aardae have a foundation linked to a personal pain point of Darshana and Shweta?
“The Covid-19 pandemic created major personal reckonings in all of our lives. As entrepreneurs, we noticed a huge international demand for clean beauty, but that dedicated destinations for these were few and far between. We recognized that the online space had the most potential. Most importantly, we discovered for ourselves that homegrown, nature-based Indian brands had efficacies on par with chemical-based international brands. Knowing this, why would we want to put toxins into our systems? When we saw the shift in our own homes and lifestyles, we also saw the business potential.“
The duo might be new to this field but floated their brand as they believed in the cause in unison. They are learning the nuances of the trade in the process. Prior to this, Shweta Gupta worked in her family’s garment export business with some of the world’s top brands and then diversified into hospitality, where she created an imprint in Chennai with a major hotel franchise. Darshana Balagopal launched and led a luxury mall’s marketing division. Later she became the Indian head of a major international tech brand.
Also, read: This Himachali Woman Offers Sustainable Products Obtained Directly From The Mountains
Despite having work experience in different sectors, both weren’t spared from challenges while setting foot in uncharted waters. Akin to many businesses across the globe getting saddled with the pandemic, their venture too bore the brunt.
“Our only challenges so far had to do with the way the pandemic has impacted the ease of travel. We’ve not been physically present in Singapore and have been managing operational and logistical needs remotely.”
However, they are thankful for having great teams in Singapore and India who managed to pull off a successful launch.
Their journey as women entrepreneurs has been enriching their lives with riveting experiences. According to them, the market is opening up, and they are constantly meeting or hearing about several women entrepreneurs in India. The duo, to their credit, has achieved a significant milestone. They were the first women to be invited to be members of the Founders Club.
“Aardae is the first all-women founding team to be part of the coveted Founders Club, a business accelerator by The Circle, providing business and financial advisory to early-stage startups and helping them scale fast,” the proud co-fos inform.
They have been observing the Indian organic cosmetics market closely and say that it has been growing at a whopping 25% annually. There is an exponential rise of educated consumers that is curious about processes and ingredients and eager to adopt a holistic, nature-centric approach to beauty. The sector’s rapid growth in India has also been made possible by investments to the tune of USD 300 million over just four years. The long-term potential in this field is enormous.
As a team of two, they have divided their roles and responsibilities based on individual strength. Darshana handles marketing, and Shweta supervises finance. Who calls the shots? – Answering it, both reply.
“Our respective work experience led to this intuitive division of roles, and we marry our strengths. We have an equal amount of say as decision-makers.“
Funding is crucial for any enterprise to come into existence, run and sustain. These two young entrepreneurs have got it sorted so far. Explaining how it works, Darshana and Shweta say:
“Aardae plans to remain bootstrapped for at least the first six months following the launch, during which we will activate our plans to expand to other markets in the region, including Malaysia and Indonesia.“
Also, read: This Techie Turned Designer From Kolkata Creates Jewellery Embodying Awareness
What the future road map looks like? The co-founders share that they have their sights set on the Middle East, Europe and Australia, and are likely to open up to venture capital funding at that stage. They further add that being one with the earth means the brand’s future is entwined with the planet’s tomorrow.
The proud co-founders declare that their initiative is much more than a mere beauty brand; it is a beauty movement. What do they count as their accomplishments?
“Aardae itself, from concept to execution, is a considerable achievement. There is simply no comparable platform, and it is exciting for us to be pioneers in this rapidly growing field of sustainable, clean, and cruelty-free beauty.“
Darshana and Shweta have words of motivation to aspiring women entrepreneurs:
“As we curated our brands, we noticed a significant number of women entrepreneurs in this field. It became a privilege for us as Aardae to take them along with us on our international growth and presence journey. So we would urge women-led enterprises to find other women-led labels who understand their unique challenges in the business and societal scenarios and explore ways to collaborate so that everyone involved can grow. An ecosystem created on such ethos is bound to prove as a win-win deal for all the stakeholders.“