Vineeta Singh
Indian entrepreneur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vineeta Singh (born 1983) is an Indian entrepreneur and CEO, co-founder of Sugar Cosmetics. She has been a Shark (i.e. judge/investor) on the business reality TV show Shark Tank India since the show started airing on SonyLIV in 2021.[1]
Vineeta Singh | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983 (age 42–43) Anand, Gujarat, India |
| Education | Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Organization | Sugar Cosmetics |
| Television | Shark Tank India (2021–present) |
| Spouse |
Kaushik Mukherjee (m. 2011) |
| Children | 2 |
| Father | Tej P. Singh |
Early life and education
Singh was born in 1983 in Anand, Gujarat.[2] Her mother holds a PhD and her father Tej P. Singh is a biophysicist at the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences.[3]
Singh completed her education at Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram in 2001.[4] She then enrolled in IIT Madras that year.[5] Singh completed her electrical engineering studies at IIT-M and earned her bachelor's degree in 2005.[6] Afterward, she obtained an MBA from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in 2007.[7]
During her MBA studies, in 2006, she worked as a summer intern at Deutsche Bank and rejected a job despite an annual ₹1-crore salary.[8][9] Singh and the other graduate who rejected the same offer wanted to start their own lingerie business,[10] but the idea did not take off as they could not raise the required funding.[7]
Career
In 2007, Singh founded her first startup Quetzal.[11] However, providing background verification checks to recruiters failed to succeed. She started her second startup Fab-Bag in 2012,[12] a subscription platform that provided monthly deliveries of beauty products.[13] Her third startup, Sugar Cosmetics, Singh founded together with her husband in 2015.[14] The company sells cosmetics and personal care products geared towards the Indian market.[15][16] After closing a $50 million deal with private equity firm L Catterton, Singh characterized the company's products as catering to the preferences of women with diverse skin tones.[17] In September 2022, actor Ranveer Singh invested an undisclosed amount and became a "brand evangelist" of Sugar Cosmetics.[18][19]
Singh appeared on the hard copy cover pages of business magazines, such as Forbes India, Business Today, and Businessworld.[24] To Business Today, she revealed that funding was once only granted under the condition that her husband joined the company full-time, which she viewed as gender discrimination.[25][26] In 2021, Forbes India listed Singh as one of its Forbes India W-Power list of women achievers.[27][3] In 2023, Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan formed a joint venture with Singh and her husband, to launch a Korean skincare brand Quench Botanics in India.[28]
In early 2024, Singh revealed that she is preparing Sugar Cosmetics towards an IPO. For this, she targeted a timeline of approximately two to three years. In alignment with the board, the right timing would require the company to be profitable and stable at a revenue above ₹1000-crore. At the time of the interview, Sugar Cosmetic's outlook was positive. The company had just realized their first profitable month ever and annual revenue had increased by about 20% to just above ₹500-crore. [29] The positive development was discontinued in 2025, when revenue declined to ₹415-crore and the company realized a net loss of about 26% (i.e. ₹108-crore). As a consequence, the company pushed back the IPO target date by another two years. [30]
Awards and recognition
Singh has received the following awards and recognitions, either personally or in recognition of Sugar Cosmetics' entrepreneurial achievements:
- 2 Gold and 2 Silver medals for IIT Madras across 4 Inter IIT Sports Meets attended from 2001–05[31]
- Retail Start-Up of the Year 2019 by Entrepreneur[32]
- Most Promising Brand of The Year 2019 by The Economic Times[32]
- 40 Under Forty 2020 by The Economic Times[32]
- 40 under 40 2021 by Fortune India[33]
- Most Trusted Brand of India 2021 by CNBC TV18[34]
- Most Admired Retailer Award 2021 by IMAGES[32]
- W-Power 2021 by Forbes India[35]
- 40 under 40 2021 by BW Disrupt[33]
- Young Global Leaders 2022 by World Economic Forum[33]
- MPW 2022 by Business Today[36]
- Women Achievers Day Award 2023 by DNA India[37]
- MPW 2023 by Business Today[38]
Entertainment
Singh is one of the major investors/judges on the business reality show Shark Tank India.[39][40]
In 2022, Singh along with the other Shark Tank India judges appeared as a VIP contestant in Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Hindi version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.[41] She also appeared as a guest on The Kapil Sharma Show together with other Shark Tank India judges in the same year.[42][43]
Personal life
In 2011, Vineeta Singh married Kaushik Mukherjee and the couple have two sons.[44] She met Kaushik during their studies at IIM Ahmedabad.[45][46]
Singh is a triathlete and ultramarathon runner and has participated in 20 marathons, ultramarathons, and 12 half-marathons.[47] She also took part in the 89-km Comrades Marathon from 2012 to 2014.[48] She completed the 2017 Ironman Triathlon in Austria.[49] In the 2018 Mumbai Marathon, she ran a total of 21 km in 2:42:51s while being 6 months pregnant.[50]
