How Dermaceuticals Created a New Category | Kapil Thirani x Fixderma | One in a Billion | Ep 20

The Indian Skincare Brand Sitting Beside Bioderma, How did a dermatologist-first business grow 35–40% of its revenue online?

In this episode of One in a Billion, Kapil Thirani sits down with Shaily Mehrotra (CEO & Founder, Fixderma & FCL) to break down how an Indian dermaceutical company grew from just 8 products into a portfolio of nearly 150 skincare solutions.

The journey began with a clear market gap: pharmaceutical skincare looked medicinal, while cosmetic brands focused largely on beauty and trends. Fixderma chose a different path, building problem-solving dermaceuticals backed by scientific formulations, dermatologist trust, and long-term product efficacy.

What followed was years of patient category-building:

- Growing from 8 products to nearly 150 skincare solutions

- Using in-vivo and in-vitro sunscreen testing before these concepts were widely understood in India

- Building trust through a network of around 15,000 dermatologists

- Moving towards in-house manufacturing after one failed batch exposed quality-control risks

- Growing online sales from almost zero to 35–40% of the business

- Facing dermatologist backlash after entering Blinkit and e-commerce

- Taking an Indian skincare brand to global shelves beside Bioderma and Eucerin

Shaily unpacks the real challenges behind building a skincare business: creating a new dermaceutical category, finding product-market fit, maintaining formulation quality, managing online and offline channel conflict, expanding through marketplaces, and building an export-ready Indian brand.

It all builds toward one larger idea: Indian skincare brands can compete globally when product science, manufacturing, distribution, and consumer trust work together.

A must-watch for D2C founders, e-commerce sellers, marketplace operators, skincare entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and anyone building a consumer brand from India.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Coming up

01:20 Introduction

02:15 The Failed Business That Changed Her Approach

06:33 The Market Gap Behind Fixderma

12:04 How Fixderma Won Dermatologists’ Trust

19:49 How Fixderma Expanded Into Global Markets

26:10 Why Sunscreen Became Fixderma’s Hero Product

31:29 Why Fixderma Is Successful in Vietnam

32:59 Shaily Mehrotra’s Shark Tank Journey

34:56 How COVID Forced Fixderma Online

42:10 The Future of India’s Skincare Industry

47:01 The Story Behind Nigrifix

49:44 Flipkart and the Growth of Online Beauty

55:06 Closing Thoughts

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