Lotus Herbals has acquired a 20 per cent stake in Gurugram-based nutraceutical products startup Yogic Secrets Healthcare. Lotus Herbals will infuse capital into the startup and will propel the brand to scale up its operations in India while also expanding horizons in international markets such as USA, UK, Australia and other markets. “Given people’s growing interest and affinity towards natural and alternative options, we firmly believe that research-based nutraceuticals are a tremendous opportunity globally. He elaborates,” said Nitin Passi, Chairman and Managing Director of Lotus Herbals.
The growth in the herbal segment is exponential and shall contribute to about 30 per cent of the nutraceuticals supplements market in India in the coming future, he added. As part of the acquisition deal, Lotus leadership shall be the support system for Yogic Secrets in business mentorship, category expansion, marketing and distribution across relevant business channels and long-term strategy, Nitin Passi told FinancialExpress.com.
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Over the past two years, Lotus Herbals has been diversifying its brands and product portfolio with strategic investments and acquisitions in emerging beauty and health care brands. In early October 2022, Lotus Herbals invested in clean beauty marketplace Vanity Wagon in pre-series funding. In January 2022, it announced a strategic acquisition of a 25 per cent stake in Conscious Chemist. In October 2021, Lotus Herbals acquired a 32 per cent strategic stake in Fixderma India Pvt. Ltd. In September 2020, the brand made a strategic investment with the 100 per cent acquisition of the luxury Ayurveda brand SoulTree. “Lotus has set aside 10 per cent of its annual revenue for mergers, acquisitions and investments as a part of its aggressive inorganic growth strategy. But Lotus will be very careful and only invest in businesses with highly differentiated business models and unique solutions/products,” said Nitin Passi.
Yogic Secrets Healthcare, founded in 2018, is a nutraceutical and health supplement start-up with premium preventive health solutions. The product portfolio addresses critical therapeutic areas like digestive health, heart health, sleep, stress and anxiety, joints and flexibility, respiratory health, weight management, energy management, immunity building, and reversal of certain diseases. “With the Lotus Herbals investment opening new horizons, we see a tremendous possibility of catapulting us towards our vision to provide preventive, palliative and curative healthcare,” said Dr. Anil Khandelwal, Founder and Managing Director of Yogic Secrets.
Lotus Herbals, meanwhile, has an expansive presence and sells products in more than 16 countries. Lotus Herbals’ retail range in India reaches 700 cities and towns through 1,000+ distributors. It is available at 150,000+ leading retail outlets, including hypermarket and pharmacy retail formats, 35 exclusive brand outlets – brick & mortar stores and kiosks in high footfall shopping malls and high street locations. In addition, its professional division currently serves 200 cities through 300+ distributors with world-class technical products, education and services, reaching 15,000+ beauty salons and spas. “We plan to expand rapidly to cater to 1500+ cities within this financial year with an increased focus on omnichannel strategies. We also intend to reach 50,000+beauticians and at least 20,000 salons within this FY. Our global expansion is also in the pipeline through our investee brands,” he concluded.