Here’s my story, which I am sure most clean-shaven men will relate to. I got hooked on to razors of a popular multinational brand with 3 shaving blade cartridges way back in the early 2000s, and slowly graduated to 5 shaving blade cartridges, swept away by the hype of closer and still closer shave build around them. The shaves got painful when the brand, taking advantage of its monopoly, started to jack up the prices of cartridges. Soon, the pain became unbearable.
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The onset of the social media era in India threw up at least one alternative, another multinational brand I had never heard of, promising matching quality at a lesser price. With a ‘no harm in trying out’ spirit, I made the switch, and was fairly satisfied with the outcome. Having stayed loyal to the brand for quite a while, I felt the urge to make another switch, this time becoming aware of an unknown Indian brand touting to use German Safe Edge Technology in its shaving systems.
Startup Aegis Personal Care LLP co-founders Suraj Chaudhari, Mihir Vaidya and Harish Amritkar
Photo courtesy: Aegis
The switch was worth it as the smooth shaves lasted much longer than the products of the previous two brands I was exposed to, that too at much lesser price. The last of the cartridges from a set of 12, which I bought at a discounted price of Rs 719 way back in February 2020, is still in use with me.
Looking for advance replenishment of my stock, I learnt of a new product from the Indian brand’s stable – a razor with hyper glide technology. Having ordered a razor set with a three blade cartridge at a rock bottom introductory price, I was curious to know more. So, I enquired on the brand’s customer care WhatsApp No. and was surprised to get a prompt reply directly from a co-founder of the company owning the brand.
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To cut the suspense short, the brand’s name is Zlade and the new shaving system has been christened ‘Zlade powered by BiC’. The brand is owned by Pune-based startup Aegis Personal Care LLP. It has entered into a manufacturing partnership with French brand BiC, which is supplying the same quality blades to Aegis as it is selling in Europe and US.
Anyway, ever since receiving the ordered ‘Zlade powered by BiC’ HyperGlide system in mid June this year, shaving has been a dream glide for me. It’s been nearly a month into daily shaving, and still the razor experience feels as good as on day one, the shave as smooth as it can possibly get!
During my quick WhatsApp interaction with Aegis Personal Care LLP co-founder Suraj Chaudhari a month ago I had promised that I will carry a write-up about the brand on my news website LifeInChandigarh.com if the new shaving system lived up to its promise. And, here I am writing about the brand, more than satisfied with my experience so far.
The two other co-founders of the startup Aegis Personal Care LLP are Suraj’s friends Mihir Vaidya and Harish Amritkar.
Claims Suraj, Zlade, which began its journey in August 2018, is “on course to do Rs 40-50 Cr in annual revenues by the end of the current financial year. We grew around 250% year-on-year in the last financial year and are set to grow 350-400% this year.”
The company has received several rounds of external funding, though Suraj politely declines to divulge details beyond admitting that it is being “backed by some of the marquee family offices from India.”
It claims to have been EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) positive since February this year, and plans to continue to grow profitably.
The brand Zlade is currently focussed on shaving razors and intimate grooming trimmers for men, though it is also selling hair removal razors and trimmers for women. Taking noted model Milind Soman on board as its brand ambassador for its Ballistic trimmers, launched in the middle of the pandemic in March 2021, to fill the vacuum for a product for men’s body hair removal, Zlade has quickly established itself in the men’s intimate grooming category.
Expressing the brand’s vision for the future, Suraj says “We want to be go-to brand when it comes to shaving and intimate grooming, essentially making the word Zlade synonymous with a razor blade.”
To what is the differentiator for Zlade, he responds, saying “There are only a handful of companies in the world which can grind high quality blades matching up to the premium quality of the leading brands. We have partnered with one such company, BiC, which is the leading manufacturer of shaving razors, with products sold across over 100 countries. Our razors are now sold under brand name ‘Zlade powered by BiC’. We are thus able to provide the Indian market the same premium quality, at a price which is fair.”
The Zlade Story
The story of Zlade goes like this. Suraj and Mihir came together in 2014 with an idea to start a shaving products company, considering the need for premium quality products at prices that are fair, having experienced it themselves.
Aegis Personal Care LLP came into being in 2015 from Suraj’s 2BHK apartment in Pune, and after experimenting with multiple factories and studying consumer feedback, and bringing Harish on board in 2017, brand Zlade was launched in August 2018.
LifeInChandigarh.com by APR Media House is an enjoyable digital reading startup, which keeps you abreast of the latest meaningful happenings of interest to large sections of folks in Chandigarh tricity, and expats from the region. It has been promoted by a public spirited senior journalist and media consultant with a view to encourage good quality and healthy journalism, a dire need of the times.
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