Shirley Setia's ISLAND Beauty raises Rs 2.58 crore in first institutional round

ISLAND Beauty, a Delhi-based skincare brand co-founded by singer and actor Shirley Setia, has raised Rs 2.58 crore (about $272,000) from AJ VC and a group of angel investors, according to announcements reported on October 29, 2026. The angel investors include Bala Sarda, founder of the tea brand Vahdam India. It is the brand's first institutional funding, and the company said the money will go into product development, building brand awareness and reaching more customers.

The funding is small by start-up standards, but it says a lot about where Indian beauty is heading. Korean skincare, often called K-beauty, built its reputation on light textures, layered routines and ingredients such as rice water, snail mucin and fermented extracts. The brand's argument is that products designed for Korea's climate and skin types do not always suit India's heat, humidity and pollution. ISLAND Beauty's pitch is to close that gap: Korean formulation know-how, tuned to Indian conditions. One of its co-founders, Jinsoon Lee, gives the company a direct link to that Korean expertise.

For Shakti readers, the story is also about a woman founder using her public profile to build a business rather than only endorse one. Setia is best known as a singer and actor. Celebrity-founded brands are common in beauty, but investors usually look past the famous name to repeat purchases, margins and distribution. A first institutional cheque suggests the brand has shown early numbers that a fund was willing to back. In comments carried with the announcement, Setia said she wanted to build something of her own.

The investor mix is worth noticing too. Alongside the venture fund, the round includes Bala Sarda, who founded the tea brand Vahdam India. Founders who have built a consumer brand often invest in others and advise them on online selling, pricing and logistics, which matters for a young company with a small team.

There are limits to what the funding shows. The company has not published its revenue or sales figures in the reports, and the product prices come from a single listing. A first round of this size is designed to test whether the model can grow, not to prove that it already has.

Short-term: The money is earmarked for new products, marketing and customer acquisition. Shoppers can expect more of the brand's products online and, potentially, a wider range in its current categories.

Long-term: If the brand grows, it would add to a crowded but expanding segment of Indian skincare start-ups that borrow global techniques and localise them. Success would also strengthen the case for more women founders to raise early institutional money in beauty, a sector where women are the main buyers but are less often the ones who own and fund the companies.

Who is affected: Skincare buyers looking for Korean-style products made for Indian conditions; early-stage beauty founders, especially women, watching how funds value celebrity-led brands; and investors weighing direct-to-consumer bets in personal care.

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