Truth & Hair raised ₹2.5 crores during a funding round on the reality show Shark Tank India. The investment was led by Varun Alagh, the co-founder of Honasa Consumer. The funding is a decisive moment in the history of Truth & Hair because it is time to rebrand the hair care market in India and focus on changing its traditional cleansing products into a more specialized hair makeup and styling-first model. The transaction underscores an increasing investor interest in niche and science-based beauty products that appeal to the varied demands of the Indian consumer in the modern era.

Brand philosophy and valuation

Truth and Hair is a domestic beauty brand founded by qualified trichologist Saumya Alagh and Shailesh Singh, who believed that there were underserved groups in the domestic beauty market. Truth and Hair has established itself in the hair beauty and styling market, unlike most of its competitors, who are overly concentrated on mass-market shampoos and conditioners.

The philosophy of the brand is based on the idea of the skinification of hair, when the scalp is considered as carefully and scientifically as the skin of the face. The founders focus on the health of the scalp and formulations that improve texture to offer solutions that are pleasing to the eye and essential to the overall health of hair over the long-term.

The launch of the brand on the Shark Tank India platform demonstrated the exclusive product line of the brand, catering to different hair textures, such as straight, wavy, and curly ones. One of the strongest things about their presentation was the launch of their own line of hair mascara, a root touch-up product that lies between traditional care and makeup.

This product also reflects the idea that the company is willing to provide fast, efficient, and stylish ways of styling hair, even in the hectic schedule of the modern consumer. The startup uses a texture-first approach, which means that each product is specifically designed based on the biological needs of the user and the type of hair, and does not provide a generic product that fits all hair types.

The process of raising the ₹2.5 crore investment was really rigorous in terms of the valuation of the company and the potential in the market. The founders had a starting ask of 2.5% equity in the tank with ₹1 crore, which put the company at a high value of ₹40 crore. In the pitch, the sharks examined the financial performance of the brand, which had an impressive growth pattern.

Truth & Hair recorded a revenue of ₹56 lakh in the 2024-25 financial year, and has already generated substantial year-to-date sales of ₹1.28 crore by the time of the recording. This scaled quickly, with a lean two-member research and development team, an outsourced manufacturing model, and was a high-quality proof of concept.

As the sharks identified the opportunity of the niche styling segment, which was estimated to be ₹600 crore in the larger ₹8,500 crore hair care market, the valuation was one of the issues of concern. A deal was reached after several rounds of negotiations with Varun Alagh, who bid ₹2.5 crores against a 25% ownership in the company.

The valuation of the company through this deal was realigned at ₹10 crore, and this was a more realistic analysis of the company at the current stage, but gave it the much-needed capital to pursue aggressive growth. The collaboration with Varun Alagh is considered to be especially strategic, as he has a lot of experience in creating and growing digital-first consumer brands in India.

Visibility and utilization of fund

Truth and Hair has a detailed roadmap to its subsequent growth with the injection of new capital. One of the prosperous aspects will be developing its product line and adding more scalp-first products and high-tech styling products. The brand will also allocate significant resources to research and development to sustain its competitive advantage in the hair beauty sector, which is still not well developed in India.

The capital will be used to intensify the marketing campaigns of the brand and increase its distribution base in retail outlets. Through the improved representation in the key online marketplaces and, possibly, by entering offline interactions, the startup is expected to target a broader audience of families and personal customers who are becoming more focused on finding a specialized solution to grooming.

Other than product development, the founders are also determined to educate the consumer. They will take the opportunity to educate about the diversity of hair texture and the significance of scalp health. The “Shark Tank effect” has already started to occur, and the brand actually had a boom in traffic and revenue to its webpage after the broadcast.

This increased exposure, in addition to the mentorship and distribution capabilities of Varun Alagh, will allow Truth and Hair to become a force in the niche hair styling industry. The brand is a reminder of how problem-solving products can lead to success in a saturated retail market, as the brand keeps innovating.

Conclusion

The fact that Truth and Hair got successfully capitalized in Shark Tank India is a major victory of innovation-based beauty start-ups in India. The ₹2.5 crore investment by Varun Alagh not only supplies the funds required to scale but also confirms the vision of the founders of a personalized approach to hair styling that is more scientific.

Truth and Hair is effectively positioning itself in a new category by targeting the crossover of hair health and beauty makeup that appeals to the changing tastes of the Indian consumer. With its new product lines and its extension into the market, the Truth & Hair company is bound to revolutionize the way Indians treat and treat their hair, no longer maintaining it as a simple, but complex and texture-rich style.