How son’s skin woes inspired Mamaearth co-founder to build ₹1,000-crore business: ‘We started from zero’

"You have a newborn; why are you running around factories?" Mamaearth co-founde Ghazal Alagh recalled while reflecting on her entrepreneurial journey, which kick-started not with a business plan but with deeply personal struggles. Speaking with LiveMint, the Gurugram-based entrepreneur spoke at length about the evolving dynamics of entrepreneurship — with the rise of artificial intelligence — and the challenges surrounding her ₹1,000-crore brand, Mamaearth.

Alagh, along with her husband Varun Alagh, started their startup, Honasa Consumer Private Limited, in 2016 in search of 'toxin'-free products for their child. The Gurugram-based entrepreneur revealed that she did not come from a traditional 'business background'.

“I actually started as an artist. I studied at the New York Academy of Art and was getting very serious about my art career until my first son, Agastya, was born,” she told Mint.

“We spent months finding products and reading labels, but were met with total disappointment. I couldn’t find a single product in India that was truly safe or free from harmful toxins,” she said.

The couple had to rely on friends travelling abroad to bring basic lotions for their son. This eventually prompted them to launch Mamaearth with the aim of providing toxin-free products for Indian babies.

“People would ask me, ‘You have a newborn; why are you running around factories?’ I remember standing in a manufacturing unit, exhausted and in milk-stained clothes, being told toxin-free products were a luxury Indians would never pay for,” she recalled.

The couple shared that they invested ₹25 lakh — their entire life savings — and had no plan B.

“There was no Plan B. If it failed, we were starting from zero with a young child,” she said.

“Today, what took me ₹25 lakh in 2016 can be done for ₹10,000– ₹15,000,” she said.

She explained that AI tools can help entrepreneurs design product mock-ups, test packaging concepts, and run targeted marketing campaigns before actually manufacturing the product.

For instance, founders can run a Meta advertising funnel to test whether customers are interested in a product concept. If people click through and reach the checkout stage, it can indicate potential product-market fit.