HairOriginals raises $5M in series A, backed by Shark Tank India investment

HairOriginals, India’s leading hair extensions brand, has successfully raised $5 million in a Series A funding round bringing its total funding to $7.2 million to date. The funding round was co-led by 12 Flags Consumer Holdings and Anicut Growth Fund along with participation from Peyush Bansal.

Founded by IIT graduate Jitendra Sharma & Piyush Wadhwani, HairOriginals offers premium, ethically sourced, 100% natural hair extensions designed to empower individuals to express their unique beauty. With an impressive 3X year-on-year growth and a target of growing multi-fold in next 24 months, the brand’s vision is to become the world’s most innovative hair makeover brand, setting new benchmarks in quality and customer love. Milestones like partnering with 1400+ salons, featuring on Shark Tank India, and setting up experience centers in India and North America have fueled company’s vision for transformation.

As part of its expansion, it has opened stores at Hyderabad and Coimbatore airports in collaboration with salon chain Naturals. To grow its global presence, it has also partnered with Kurves salon chain in North America to establish experience centres. The company’s commitment to innovation and premium quality has set them apart in the hair industry with significant milestones, further solidifying their leadership positioning.

The funding highlights strong investor confidence in brand’s in-house manufacturing capabilities, its focus on ethically sourced, high-quality products, and its proven scalability through strategic partnerships and international expansion. Having established a solid product-market fit and a dominant market position, HairOriginals’ ability to launch 4-5 new products monthly and its vision for global leadership made it a compelling choice for investors.  

Rakesh Kapoor, Ex-Reckitt Benckiser Global CEO, Founder of 12 Flags Consumer Holdings said, "We are inspired to invest in businesses that truly make a difference. Hair Originals offers a range of hair extension products, providing instant transformations that not only enhance appearance but also boost confidence, leaving people excited about their new look.

Jitendra and his team are passionately committed to positioning India as the world's leading hub for human hair products, and we are excited to be part of this visionary journey.", he further adds.

Dhruv Kapoor, Partner, Anicut Capital commented, "India has been the global leader in export of human hair. While India exports >85% of raw human hair, China captures majority of the value-added market by selling to global markets in the form of hair extensions and wigs. HairOriginals is capturing value in India by building an omni-channel brand of premium hair extension products through supply chain and manufacturing focus. We resonate with Jitendra's singular focus of building a high quality hair Extensions brand from India for the World and are excited to partner with him on this journey"

The company previously raised $1.5 million in seed funding from Anicut Capital and other investors. Fresh funds raised will be utilized to expand Try-at-Home Services by bringing On-demand hair extension home service to 40 cities, establish 25-30 company-owned experience Centres in the next 12 months and bolster R&D Capabilities by creating innovative, best-in-class products for a global audience.

Founder Jitendra Sharma added, “India is the largest and the only ethical source of human hair in the world. Our Vision is to leverage sourcing advantage and to own complete value chain by manufacturing top quality finished products from India to the World. By doing this, we will ensure complete global disruption in this category by offering highest quality products at best price points globally.”