Niharika Jhunjhunwala, Founder and CEO of ClayCo

Niharika Jhunjhunwala, Founder and CEO of ClayCo, is redefining luxury skincare with her visionary approach to beauty. Blending ancient global skincare rituals with cutting-edge innovation, she’s brought her brand, ClayCo, to the forefront of the premium skincare market in India. With the wildly popular ‘Rituals of Japan’ range, Niharika has quickly garnered a loyal consumer base and attracted $2M in Series A funding from Unilever Ventures—all in less than two years.

Her remarkable achievements have earned Niharika a spot on the prestigious TheGlitz 2025 Catalyst list, celebrating trailblazers shaping the future. Before ClayCo, this LSE alumna made waves with her pioneering online subscription service, Sugarbox. When she’s not steering her beauty empire, Niharika indulges her passions for travel, dance, and badminton, embodying the grace and drive that define her success.

Over To Niharika Jhunjhunwala, Founder and CEO, ClayCo

ClayCo has become a significant name in the skincare industry in a very short time. What motivated you to start the brand, and how do you differentiate it in a competitive market?

Niharika: My travels to various countries post-COVID, such as Japan, Korea, Morocco, China, and Israel, sparked a deep appreciation for the diverse beauty rituals each country offers. This global inspiration made me realize that India is ready for a new skincare era beyond traditional ayurvedic, derma, and herbal rituals. This understanding gave birth to ClayCo, a brand that brings global beauty rituals to Indian consumers.

ClayCo offers powerful yet caring formulations that promote overall well-being. Its goal is to transform the skincare concept into one that is both skin-deep and soul-deep. This is achieved by curating traditional skincare rituals combined with modern-age technology. A ClayCo experience aims to meet all your skincare needs and, at the same time, be therapeutic.

Your ‘Rituals of Japan’ range has garnered much attention. How did you choose Japan’s skincare rituals as the core inspiration for your products, and what do you think Indian consumers appreciate the most about this range?

Niharika: Japanese skincare is all about a minimalistic yet highly effective routine. There are fewer products, but each one is meticulously chosen for maximum results. Japanese skincare relies heavily on natural, time-tested ingredients like Green Tea, Koji Rice, & Azuki Beans. You won’t find harsh chemicals or fragrances here. Japanese skincare also leads the way in innovation with high-tech skincare devices and formulations that blend tradition with cutting-edge science. Japanese skincare is all about nurturing your skin’s natural balance.

Our entire range has received massive appreciation from consumers. In fact, One of our flagship products, the Rice and Sake Sleep Mask, has taken the beauty market by storm, becoming the bestselling night cream on platforms such as Amazon, Nykaa, and Tira. With over 100,000 units sold, this product’s popularity underscores the growing global appeal of Japanese-inspired skincare rituals. Its viral success highlights the demand for high-quality, culturally rooted skincare solutions that provide visible results, which is what Indian consumers are now seeking.

Having successfully operated Sugarbox for a decade before launching ClayCo, how did your experience with Sugarbox influence your approach to building ClayCo from the ground up?

Niharika: Sugarbox taught me about the multiple facets of business, which helped me build ClayCo. The first and foremost important is to focus on creating a brand rather than a commodity. Sugarbox helped build my foundation as a founder by teaching me marketing, operations, team management, finance, and more. This support paved the way for ClayCo, allowing for a more seamless and knowledgeable approach.

ClayCo recently raised $2M in a Series A round from Unilever Ventures. How do you plan to utilize this funding to scale the brand and expand its reach in both the Indian and international markets?

Niharika: The funds are being used to bolster marketing campaigns, expand customer engagement, and drive research and innovation. We are adding more products to our ‘Rituals of Japan’ range and will launch our ‘Rituals of Morocco’ body care range in the first half of this year. We plan to go offline soon with shop-in-shop stores. As for the international markets, we will also look into targeting an online beta presence there sometime in the future.

As a passionate advocate of beauty, how do you see the future of skincare evolving, especially in the context of consumer demand for sustainability, transparency, and wellness?

Niharika: Consumers are now evolving towards minimal beauty, and for any skincare product they are using, they look for multiple actives, whether a sunscreen, moisturizer, or face mask. We are evolving towards a minimal ritual process, an essential skincare regime. A simple 3-4 step ritual, where effective results are packed in these steps, a minimalistic approach where each step of your ritual has multiple benefits. We are also moving towards more sustainable, authentic, transparent, ingredients-centric and consistent beauty instead of instant gratification skincare regimes or the ones that have been more marketing-centric.

On the personal front, how do your interests in travel, dance, and sports influence your approach to business, creativity, and wellness in the ClayCo brand?

Niharika: Travel plays a pivotal role in my creative and innovative approach to ClayCo, that is, beauty per se. As explained, my travels inspired me to bring global beauty rituals to India. The intention has been to curate our products with global and natural ingredients; for example, camelia flowers and matcha are a few of the local Japanese ingredients incorporated into ClayCo products.

When I travel, I visit all the local stores, not just big department stores, and my inspiration grows every time I leave the country. Hence, ClayCo has begun with ‘Rituals of Japan’, and we look forward to bringing you beauty rituals from many countries.