Beauty and wellness marketplace Stylofie gets $250K in seed funding

Gurgaon-based beauty and wellness startup Stylofie.com, operated by Soulmo Solutions Pvt Ltd, has raised $250,000 (about Rs 1.65 crore) in seed funding from Hong Kong-based Swastika Company Ltd.

Stylofie will use the funds to strengthen its technology infrastructure and expand its services to Delhi, it said in a statement.

With its website and mobile app, Stylofie provides a platform to consumers to discover and compare salons and spas, check reviews, and make bookings and payments.

The company was founded by Prateek Agarwal and Saurav Dey three months ago. Agarwal, a chartered accountant, has previously worked with Videocon, CSG, Bharti Airtel and Ranbaxy. He is also a board advisor on Telecom Oman. Dey worked with Genpact, Accenture Technology Solutions and Ingersoll-Rand before launching Stylofie.

The startup claims to have about 100 premium salon/spa outlets listed on its platform.

"Stylofie has two things going for them – a great team of seasoned professionals at the helm and a monetization plan. They have started generating revenues from day one and have very healthy unit economics," said Vaibhav Jain, director at Swastika.

India's beauty and wellness industry has seen a lot of investor action lately. A PricewaterhouseCoopers report estimates the sector to be worth Rs 1 lakh crore this year. Several online players that facilitate listings, discovery and booking of wellness services have raised external capital.

Bangalore-based Vyomo Pte Ltd, which runs a beauty and wellness platform, had raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding led by TaxiForSure co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna in June.

In January, Mumbai-based Manash Lifestyle Pvt Ltd, the company behind Purplle.com, secured an undisclosed amount in Series A funding from early-to-growth-stage VC firm IvyCap Ventures.

Mumbai-based DocSuggest Healthcare Services Pvt Ltd, the company behind Ziffi.com, an online booking platform for beauty salons, doctors and health tests, is in advanced stage of talks for Series B funding.