French beauty giant L’Oréal has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Indian personal care company Innovist, in a deal that highlights intensifying competition for high-growth digital-first beauty brands in the country. The deal size was not disclosed.
The French company said Innovist will become part of its Consumer Products Division portfolio. Under the agreement, Innovist’s founders Rohit Chawla, Sifat Khurana and Vimal Bhola will retain minority stakes and continue to run the business alongside L’Oréal India, it said in a statement on Thursday.
The agreement also gives L’Oréal the right to acquire the remaining minority shareholding in the future.
The transaction is expected to close in the coming months, subject to regulatory approvals and customary conditions. L’Oréal said it will begin consolidating Innovist’s sales after the deal closes.
The transaction ranks among the most prominent acquisitions in India’s beauty and personal care sector since Hindustan Unilever Ltd acquired a majority stake in skincare brand Minimalist for ₹2,700 crore in April last year.
Mint reported last year that Innovist was looking to raise capital from new and existing investors in a largely primary round.
Founded in 2019 by Rohit Chawla, Sifat Khurana and Vimal Bhola, Innovist was launched with the aim of formulating scientific and data-driven personal care products. Three years later, it rebranded to Onesto Labs.
India focus
For L’Oréal, the deal is a targeted bet on India’s rapidly expanding beauty market and the increasing influence of digital-native brands that have built strong consumer followings online before scaling into offline retail. Innovist’s portfolio includes brands such as Bare Anatomy and Chemist at Play, which operate in the haircare and skincare segments.
L’Oréal’s India portfolio includes Maybelline India, Kerastase, Redken and Cerave.
The acquisition reflects a broader shift in India’s beauty industry, with multinational companies increasingly buying digital-first brands rather than building them. Rising online beauty spending, quick-commerce growth and demand for ingredient-led products have made such startups attractive acquisition targets.
D2C brands continue to attract private investments in India despite the rise of global beauty brands. The top 20 brands in India raised as much as ₹600 crore in the first nine months of FY26, up 7% from the same period last year, per estimates by market intelligence firm Tracxn.
According to Unicommerce, tier II and tier III cities drove upwards of 66% of all D2C new orders in FY26. Overall, the D2C segment continued to grow, with order volumes and gross merchandise value (GMV) rising 32-33% year-on-year during the same period.
Around two-thirds of all acquisitions by FMCG players in the last five years have been in the D2C space, according to a Crisil report from September 2025. Notable deals include HUL’s buyout of Minimalist last year, Marico’s buying of Plix for ₹380 crore in 2023, Emami’s ₹272-crore takeover of The Man Company in 2024, and ITC Ltd’s acquisition of Yoga Bar for ₹225 crore in 2023.
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