Anshita Mehrotra, Founder and Managing Director of Fix My Curls, launched India's first dedicated curly haircare brand in 2019 at age 19 from Gurugram. The brand grew from ₹1.2 crore in FY21 to ₹15 crore in FY24, delivered 500,000-plus orders across 11 countries, raised $910,000 from Amazon Sambhav Venture Fund, India Quotient, and DSG Consumer Partners at a $6.81 million valuation, earned Forbes India 30 Under 30 2025 recognition, and targets a ₹50 crore-plus business.
Vancouver, One Girl's Hair Routine, and a Mother's Advice That Changed Everything
Anshita Mehrotra grew up in Varanasi in a family with roots in the skincare and pharmaceutical manufacturing world. As a child, she was interested in pop culture, writing, reading, and storytelling, having studied at Pathways World School Aravali, an experience she credits for shaping her entrepreneurial instincts. She pursued a Journalism degree from Penn State World Campus.
She grew up believing her naturally curly hair was difficult to manage and often wished it looked like the smooth, well-defined hair she saw on others. When she moved to Vancouver for college, a defining moment arrived. She noticed many of her classmates confidently wearing their natural curls and assumed they had undergone expensive salon treatments. Curious, she asked one of them directly.
"I asked one of these girls, 'What do you use?' She said, 'I use curl cream and a gel,'" Anshita recalled. It was the first time she had ever heard of styling products specifically designed for curly hair. She visited a local pharmacy and found shelves full of affordable curl creams and gels. She tried them herself and her hair transformed.
Back in Varanasi for winter break, out of hair products and unable to find anything comparable in India, she searched online. Empty results. Expensive imports. A gap so large it was almost incomprehensible for a country where a significant portion of the population has naturally wavy, curly, or coily hair.
She wanted to import products from California. Her mother, who has deep connections to Fixderma, a well-established skincare brand, gave her the advice that changed everything: go to the Fixderma factory, make the products and test them before building a brand.
Anshita took that advice. She researched curly hair products from around the world, studied formulations, identified pain points that curly-haired women faced including herself, particularly the constant lack of moisture, and began her own formulation process. By August 2019, she had five products ready and launched on Amazon under Fixderma's umbrella for the first year, testing the market.
When COVID-19 hit in 2020, most businesses contracted. Anshita expanded her vision. "I realised that I wanted to make this something more than a project and I opened up my own company, and website. I think before that I was testing the market for eight months," she says. Fix My Curls became an independent brand.
PETA-Certified Manufacturing, $910,000 Raised, and a Category Built From the Ground Up
The formulation approach was distinct and principled from the very beginning: sulphate-free, silicone-free, and paraben-free products using butters, oils, and naturally occurring cleansing agents that are gentler than mass-market alternatives and specifically designed for Indian curly and wavy hair textures. Fix My Curls ensures all products are manufactured in a PETA-certified facility, adding an ethical dimension that resonates deeply with its conscious consumer base.
In April 2024, Anshita secured a $100,000 grant for female founders from Peak XV Partners. A month later in May 2024, Fix My Curls raised $910,000 in a seed round led by Amazon Sambhav Venture Fund, with participation from India Quotient and DSG Consumer Partners, valuing the company at $6.81 million. Total investors stand at 6, including angel investor Shaily Mehrotra who also serves as an independent board member.
Hariharan Premkumar of DSG Consumer Partners described Anshita as "irrationally passionate, obsessed about the product, frugal, and capital efficient," the combination of qualities that defines founders who build enduring brands.
The funding is being deployed to expand into Tier 2 cities across India, scale the product range to 15 to 20 additional formulations, and build out the Europe strategy through TikTok-led discovery and D2C expansion focused on repeat demand and long-term brand building. Fix My Curls has also opened plans for its own salon spaces and pop-ups where customers can get their curly hair professionally treated.
Scale and Real-World Impact
Fix My Curls was founded in 2019 by Anshita Mehrotra, Founder and Managing Director, at age 19, and is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana. Revenue grew from ₹1.2 crore in FY20-21 to ₹15 crore in FY23-24, a 500% increase from FY21-22 and 70% growth year-on-year. Forbes confirmed estimated revenue of $2.8 million for the fiscal year ended March 2024. The brand has delivered over 500,000 orders across 11 countries. It is available across 13 marketplaces in India including its own website, Amazon, Nykaa, and quick commerce platforms with the latter contributing 15% of revenue. The brand has 11 original formulations and 37 employees as of May 2025, a 1,750% headcount increase from May 2024. Total funding raised is $910,000 from 6 investors including Amazon Sambhav Venture Fund, India Quotient, DSG Consumer Partners, and Peak XV Partners. Valuation stands at $6.81 million. Anshita targets building a ₹50 crore-plus company. Anshita was named Forbes India 30 Under 30 2025. Competitors include Pilgrim, Mamaearth, and Moxie Beauty.
| Metric | Business Milestone & Operational Detail |
| Founder & MD | Anshita Mehrotra (Founded at age 19) |
| Headquarters | Gurugram, Haryana |
| Founded Year | 2019 |
| Revenue Performance | ₹1.2 crore (FY21) to ₹15 crore (FY24) |
| Estimated Revenue (Forbes) | $2.8 million for fiscal year ended March 2024 |
| Orders & Reach | 500,000+ orders across 11 countries |
| Marketplace Presence | 13 marketplaces (D2C site, Amazon, Nykaa, Quick Commerce at 15%) |
| Product Line | 11 original formulations |
| Team Size | 37 employees (as of May 2025) |
| Funding & Valuation | $910,000 raised at $6.81 million valuation |
| Key Investors | Amazon Sambhav Venture Fund, India Quotient, DSG Consumer Partners, Peak XV Partners |
The Most Powerful Consumer Brands Are the Ones Built by Founders Who Were the Underserved Customer
The sharpest lesson from Fix My Curls' journey is this: the most defensible consumer brands are the ones built by founders who personally experienced the gap, personally validated the solution, and then built a community around it before building a company.
Anshita Mehrotra was not a haircare industry professional. She was a 19-year-old girl who ran out of hair products in Varanasi, found the answers in Vancouver, and refused to accept that Indian curly-haired women deserved less than what she had discovered abroad.
She built the product. She built the community. She built the category.
"From mayonnaise as a deep conditioner, to men's hair gel as a styler, I couldn't help but wonder if there was something I could do. So I created this brand, to represent us, our stories, our journeys from hating to loving our natural coils. These products are made with love, respect and gratitude, from one curly girl to another."
She was 19, out of hair products, in Varanasi. She asked one girl in Vancouver a single question. And the answer built a brand, a community, a category, and a ₹15 crore business that India had been waiting for all along.
Sources: Forbes India 30 Under 30 2025, Indian Retailer, Tracxn, The FoundHers Podcast, StartupPedia, LinkedIn, Global Indian
