Nykaa is one of the leading e-commerce platforms in the beauty, wellness, and fashion industry, owned by FSN E-commerce Venture Ltd. The company started in 2012 by Falguni Nayar with the mission to solve trust issues among customers. There are so many quality brands in India that manufacture beauty and wellness products.
Buying such products from a local retailer always leaves the customer guessing whether it’s the original or a fake counterpart. With Nykaa, most buyers felt trust as Nykaa directly deals with brands and maintains its own warehouse. Lately, Nykaa expanded its work to fashion, offline retail stores, its own brands, and a B2B segment. Nykaa stands out for its omni-channel approach, where it has online and offline stores with a curated multi-brand beauty portfolio.
The brand is expanding, and its revenue has increased by more than 24% after the expansion to physical stores in 2025. To understand how Nykaa’s business model works and how it makes money, let’s get started and take a look at its business model structure, key insights, financial reports, and relevant points.
How is Nykaa’s Business Model Structured?
Nykaa’s business model is structured around several interlinked segments and channels, which consist of beauty and personal care at the core. The brand sells multi-brand products online and offline, along with its own brands under the name House of Nykaa, where you can find Dot & Key, Kay Beauty, etc. This business segment has higher margins through its own brand and premium luxury product offerings.
At the same time, Nykaa also has its fashion and lifestyle brand, which acts as a supplementary segment to broaden the product portfolio and customer base on its platform. The brand is enjoying healthy margins through its multi-channel strategy, where it has an online marketplace, Nykaa App and Website, Physical stores, and quick commerce. Then there is the 2B2B or wholesale distribution segment of this company as well.
| Company/Brand | Nykaa (FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd) |
| Establishment Year | 2012 |
| Headquarters | Mumbai, India |
| Founder/Owner | Falguni Nayar & team; publicly listed as FSN E-Commerce Ventures |
| Industry | Beauty / Personal Care / Fashion / E-commerce & Retail (Omni-channel) |
| Net Worth (2025) | ₹ 7,950 crore (up to 24% YoY) |
| Total Revenue 2025 | ₹ 11,775 crore (Beauty GMV grew 30% YoY) |
How Does Nykaa Make Money?
Nykaa earns through various streams to ensure a stable flow of income to invest in new projects, maintenance, salaries, and more. Various strategies used in this business model also provide growth. Let’s have a look at some key sources:
1. Product Sales Like Beauty and Fashion
The core of Nykaa is selling beauty and fashion products through online and offline channels. Nykaa makes a large portion of its money through this source, and now Nykaa also has its own brands under the House of Nykaa sub-brand. There are brands like Dot & Key, Kay Beauty, etc. Own brands help in strategically keeping the price in the most demanded price range, and there are better margins for the brand as well.
2. Gross Merchandise Value
Nykaa tracks GMV (total value of goods sold), which includes multi-brand beauty, fashion, offline, and online. Revenue from operations is a portion of GMV (net revenue), after accounting for discounts, returns, logistics, etc. Margins depend on product mix: premium brands, own brands, fashion vs beauty, own inventory vs marketplace. Higher margin items help improve net revenue and profitability.
3. Physical Retail Stores
Over the years, Nykaa has been expanding into the physical market to increase exposure, ensure quality products are delivered within minutes, and provide the right guidance to help customers buy the right product. Through these retail stores, Nykaa can serve more customers, as there are more than 237 stores by FY25 in 79 cities. These stores offer a showroom-like feel with the approach of looking like discovery centres. Customers can touch and feel the product and use samples to find the right one for their needs.
Financial Performance
Nykaa’s net revenue from the operations was about ₹7,959 crores, which was up by more than 24% from last year’s FY24. The GMV in the beauty segment increased by 30% from last year. The increase was about ₹11,775 crore, and the profit after tax for FY25 was about ₹72 crores. EBITDA also increased, where in Q4 FY25 EBITDA reached about ₹ 133 crore (margin 6.5%), and for the full year FY25 EBITDA₹ 474 crore.
What’s New in 2025?
In FY25, Nykaa added 50 stores, its highest single-year expansion ever, bringing its store count to 237 across 79 cities. This shows a stronger belief in physical retail complementing online. Additionally, House of Nykaa’s portfolio (Dot & Key, Kay Beauty, etc.) crossed ~₹ 1,700 crore GMV in FY25; Dot & Key alone crossed ~₹ 900 crores. These own-brands are growing quickly and helping with margin expansion.
