FAE Beauty (Karishma) on Shark Tank India Update

Last updated on 6 January 2025. Image Credits: SonyLiv.

Find everything about FAW Beauty’s pitch on Shark Tank India, founder Karishma Kewalramani and the latest updates about the company!

FAE Beauty on Shark Tank India

What a way to start the season with a direct competitor of one of the sharks! FAE Beauty is (obviously) a beauty products brand that rivals in the same niche as Vineeta’s Sugar Cosmetics.

Here are the key details about their pitch on Shark Tank:

Name	FAE Beauty
Founders	Karishma Kewalramani
Episode	Season 4 Episode 1
Ask	₹1 Crore for 1% Equity
Deal	₹1 Crore for 1.5% Equity
Sharks	Aman Gupta, Namita Thapar
Status	In-business

FAE Beauty creates and conceptualises beauty products for everyone: every skin tone, texture and even gender. That’s why FAE stands for “Free and Equal”.

The brand now has more than 50 products in its catalogue that you can easily get from its website and online marketplaces. Their hero product is LIP WHIP available on Amazon (*Affiliate Link)::

Or Buy it from here: https://amzn.to/4j61IfT 

*Affiliate Link means that we get a certain percentage from the sale when you purchase through our link.

What to learn from them?

There are 3 major lessons from this company:

1. Inclusivity in India: The brand’s marketing focuses on how inclusive the products are for the Indian demographics and the desi skin colours.
2. No Photoshop Policy: They do not edit images of the model’s faces to showcase what the customer will actually look like after using it.
3. Back to Profits: After years of heavy losses, the founder pivoted to getting profits instead of just burning cash.
4. Hero Product: After years of in-house development, they finally found their hero product, which makes them stand out in the market.

Even in a brutal industry like beauty, the brand found its customer base with its unique branding.

Did FAE Beauty get the deal?

The founder asked for a straight ₹100 crore valuation, ready to give only 1% of the equity in exchange for ₹1 crore. Well, that’s a big ask! The funding was needed for brand building and RnD for new products.

But the brand has too many positives: the packaging was loved by sharks as well as the ‘inclusivity’ factor. Peyush also likes the fact that the funds diluted her equity to keep the company afloat. 

The best part is that after years of losses (at one time it was ₹2.5 crores), the company is now profitable with revenue going beyond ₹10 crores in just 6 months before the pitch. So, I think the valuation was justified! That’s what the sharks also thought and a bidding war started.

Everyone offered the money for 3% (except Vineeta), but the founder didn’t want to dilute much. Anupam even offered more money but she didn’t budge.

Finally, FAE Beauty secured a deal on Shark Tank for ₹1 crore from Aman Gupta and Namita Thapar.

About Karishma Kewalramani

Karishma is the Founder of FAE Beauty, which she launched in 2018. To study business, she got a Bachelor’s degree in Administration from the University of California in Berkeley and gained some experience in A. T. Kearney.

But her passion was building something of her own, and she found her passion in the beauty industry. To learn more, she trained as a Makeup artist and did small gigs. After that, she finally started FAE.

After The Tank Update

After the episode aired, the website offered a 20% discount on all the orders for one week. She shared her experience shared the pitch:

Pitching to the ‘sharks’ on Shark Tank India is truly a surreal experience. I can’t deny that I was a bundle of nerves before filming, but I knew I had a unique story to tell and a brand that could make a real difference in the beauty industry. … We’re not just a makeup brand; we’re a movement towards ensuring inclusivity in the industry, and Shark Tank India has given us the opportunity to take our brand to the next level and reach even more people with our core message of inclusivity and self-acceptance.

Just a fun fact, she even had funding from Kunal Bahl, one of the new sharks coming in season 4 of the show.

By the way, other businesses featured in this episode were Confect and Indulge.

Takeaways

So now you know about FAE Beauty’s deal on Shark Tank India. I believe the brand has a lot of potential in India if it sticks to its marketing and doesn’t burn the bank balance in too many paid advertisments to acquire new customers.

And if you don’t know who I am? I am Ranish Chauhan a.k.a. Fulmino Fan, a Fan of the Shark Tank show.