Nykaa Beauty CEO Anchit Nayar outlines plans to scale beyond founder-led roots

At Fortune India’s 40 Under 40 event, Nykaa Beauty CEO Anchit Nayar discussed building the business through brand-building, retail and multiple growth levers as India’s beauty market expands.

— FiledSun, 30 Aug, 2026, 17:07 IST·First seen Sun, 30 Aug, 2026, 17:07 IST·Source Fortune India

What happened

Nykaa Beauty CEO Anchit Nayar discusses scaling the business beyond its founder-led roots, combining brand-building with retail and pursuing multiple growth

Key facts

  • 40 Under 40 2026

Why this matters

Nykaa’s emphasis on brand-building and diversified growth creates potential partnership or acquisition opportunities that deepen beauty assortment, retail reach and customer engagement.

What to watch

  • New executive appointments or revised leadership structure across beauty, retail, private brands and supply chain.
  • Beauty segment growth relative to overall Nykaa growth, particularly repeat purchase and active-customer trends.
  • Store-opening pace, store productivity and the mix of owned versus partner-led retail formats.
  • Marketing expense, contribution margins and EBITDA trajectory following brand-building investments.
  • Growth in owned brands, exclusives and premium beauty assortment share.
  • Major global beauty-brand partnerships, India exclusivity agreements or competitive responses from Sephora, Tira and Myntra.
  • Expand senior category, retail operations, supply-chain and brand-partnership leadership beneath the Beauty CEO.
  • Increase exclusive-brand launches, creator-led campaigns and offline beauty experiences to defend discovery leadership.
  • Accelerate selective physical-store expansion in tier-2 and tier-3 cities while deepening omnichannel fulfilment.
  • Use customer data to tailor regional assortment, loyalty offers and replenishment-driven retention.
  • Frame governance, succession depth and operating discipline more prominently in investor communications.