Kriti Sanon-backed Hyphen targets Rs 500 crore revenue by 2027

Hyphen, a next-gen skincare brand co-founded by PEP Technologies, the parent company of mCaffeine, and celebrity entrepreneur Kriti Sanon, has completed its first year of operations. Hyphen claims to be one of the fastest growing direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands in India, with a turnover of Rs 100 crore in just 12 months.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Tarun Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO, Hyphen, expressed confidence in scaling the brand ₹500 crores in three years, attributing this optimism to the brand’s strong performance indicators.

“The repeats are very high, the average rating across all our products is over 4.5 out of 5, and we have achieved double-digit market share in subcategories like lip balm within eight to nine months of our launch,” Sharma noted.

He also highlighted that the brand has generated nearly 1 billion impressions in the last seven months, reflecting strong consumer intent. Going forward, Hyphen plans to expand its product portfolio while digging deeper into its successful categories to maintain its growth trajectory.

Kriti Sanon, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Hyphen, shared her excitement about the brand’s progress. She noted that customer loyalty has been exceptional, with 60-70% of customers returning. “The combination of quality and affordability has been our unique selling point,” Sanon said. She also highlighted the success of Hyphen’s lip balms, which have been bestsellers across all platforms.

In a separate development, Gurugram-based higher education services startup CollegeDekho has successfully raised $9 million in an extended Series B funding round.

The funding round was led by existing investors. This latest funding, combined with a previous $9 million funding from Janeville Limited in December 2022, brings CollegeDekho’s total funding to over $60 million.

Ruchir Arora, Co-founder and CEO, CollegeDekho, highlighted that the company aims to reach around ₹300 crore revenue for the current year.

“Our goal is to reach approximately ₹“300 crore revenue this year. With CollegeDekho handling around 1 lakh admissions out of the total 1 crore annual admissions to colleges, there is significant growth potential,” Arora said.

He also highlighted the company’s investment in the skills sector, with its own branded courses and a growing student body of around 2,000.

Arora also revealed that the latest funds will be spent on operational growth, with a particular focus on cash profitability. “We have achieved EBITDA profitability and are working towards becoming cash positive soon,” he added.

Finally, at the recent Google I/O Connect in Bangalore, Google unveiled a new set of tools and initiatives aimed at empowering Indian AI innovators. Manish Gupta, Director, Google DeepMind, and Seshu Ajjarapu, Senior Director, Google DeepMind, discussed the impact of these initiatives and the future of AI in India.

Watch the accompanying video for the full discussion.