Founder Pritam Kudev on building MANNLICH alongside a full-time job, creating products for overlooked men’s skincare concerns, and scaling the brand after achieving profitability.
India’s men’s grooming industry has expanded rapidly over the last few years, driven by increasing awareness around personal care and wellness. Yet, despite the influx of products into the market, one issue continues to persist—most men’s skincare products remain generic. Instead of addressing the everyday concerns that men actually experience, many brands simply repackage formulations originally designed for women with masculine branding.
Pritam Kudev, Founder of MANNLICH, believes this gap presented a significant opportunity. Rather than creating another men’s grooming brand built on broad claims, he set out to develop products that solve highly specific concerns—from thigh chafing and body acne to intimate hygiene, underarm odour, tanning, and foot odour.
In an exclusive conversation with Indian Startup Times, Kudev shared how MANNLICH evolved from a side project managed after office hours into a profitable business that recently secured its first institutional funding round. He also explained why specificity, customer listening, and disciplined execution remain central to the company’s growth strategy.
Identifying the Real Gap in Men’s Skincare
Before launching MANNLICH, Kudev spent over eight and a half years working across various organizations in consumer-focused roles. During that time, he also experienced firsthand the shortcomings of the men’s personal care market.
He observed that while women’s skincare had evolved into a highly specialized category with products designed for different skin types, conditions, and concerns, men’s skincare largely remained limited to broad, one-size-fits-all offerings.
According to him, the problem wasn’t that men lacked interest in skincare—it was that brands weren’t addressing the issues men genuinely wanted solved.
“Men were never uninterested. They were just never given anything precise enough to be interested in. Ask a man about a face wash and you get a shrug. Ask him about the rash he gets every summer between his thighs and he will talk for ten minutes.”
This realization became the foundation of MANNLICH’s product philosophy—identify real, everyday problems and build products specifically to solve them.
Building Products Around Problems, Not Categories
Unlike many emerging personal care startups that rapidly expand their portfolios, MANNLICH has deliberately launched only ten products over the past three and a half years.
For Kudev, every product must satisfy two conditions before launch—it should address a clearly identifiable problem, and it must solve that problem better than existing alternatives.
As a result, the company’s portfolio focuses on practical concerns that are often ignored by mainstream beauty brands, including:
- Body acne
- Thigh chafing
- Underarm odour
- Foot odour
- Intimate hygiene
- Skin tanning
These may not be glamorous categories, but Kudev believes they represent genuine consumer needs.
“Nobody wants a lifestyle photoshoot about chafing. Which is exactly why the space was open.”
The company develops formulations according to German standards while manufacturing entirely in India—allowing it to maintain product quality without making premium pricing inaccessible.
“We are an Indian brand that formulates to a German standard and manufactures here. That is what keeps the quality consistent and the price sensible.”
Building the Company While Working Full-Time
MANNLICH did not begin after Kudev quit his corporate career. Instead, the company was built during evenings and weekends while he continued working a full-time job for nearly two years.
Without external funding, he managed almost every aspect of the business himself—from product development and operations to customer service and marketing.
Rather than building a large team early, MANNLICH stayed lean by outsourcing non-core functions and focusing on profitability.
Looking back, Kudev believes those constraints forced better decision-making.
“It doesn’t make you smarter. It makes you slower, and slow forces you to be right more often. You cannot spend your way out of a bad product when there is nothing to spend.”
The disciplined approach enabled MANNLICH to achieve healthy unit economics and profitability before approaching investors.
Raising Capital After Proving the Business Model
Unlike many consumer startups that raise capital before validating demand, MANNLICH entered fundraising discussions only after demonstrating repeat purchases, sustainable margins, and profitability.
The recently concluded institutional funding round, according to Kudev, was intended to accelerate an already functioning business—not validate an idea.
“We were not raising to find out whether it works. We were raising because it works and we would like it to work faster.”
The fresh capital will primarily support:
- New product development
- Expanded distribution
- Advanced formulation research
- Increased brand visibility beyond performance marketing
However, Kudev insists that funding will not change the company’s disciplined product launch strategy.
Customer Language Drives Product Innovation
Rather than relying heavily only on market reports, MANNLICH builds products by observing how customers naturally describe their concerns.
The team closely monitors customer emails, direct messages, online communities, forums, search behaviour, and product reviews to identify recurring pain points.
Although structured customer interviews are conducted, Kudev believes spontaneous customer conversations often provide stronger insights.
He says many opportunities emerge when consumers consistently describe a problem for which no dedicated product currently exists.
Honest Marketing Over Aspirational Claims
Kudev believes much of the men’s grooming industry relies on exaggerated promises that products cannot realistically deliver.
Instead of positioning skincare as a life-changing experience, MANNLICH focuses on solving practical problems.
He explains that most customers simply want an effective solution—not a transformation of their identity.
Having personally dealt with body image concerns, Kudev says he has become increasingly skeptical of marketing narratives that overpromise emotional outcomes.
“We are not going to tell anyone that a body wash will change their life. It will reduce their body acne. That is a smaller claim and a more useful one.”
The company’s philosophy is straightforward—identify the problem, formulate an effective solution, and let the product deliver measurable results.
Beyond Performance Marketing
As the company scales, MANNLICH continues to acquire customers through quick commerce platforms, digital advertising, and creator collaborations.
However, Kudev believes performance marketing alone cannot build a lasting consumer brand.
While paid campaigns are effective for acquiring first-time buyers, he argues that sustained brand recognition ultimately lowers acquisition costs and improves long-term customer retention.
Even then, every branding initiative is evaluated with the same financial discipline as performance campaigns—only over a longer investment horizon.
Looking Ahead
MANNLICH’s immediate objective is to become India’s most trusted men’s personal care brand before exploring international markets. Over the long term, Kudev envisions building a broader portfolio of brands across men’s personal care and wellness.
Despite the recent funding, the company’s strategy remains unchanged—launch fewer products, ensure every product addresses a meaningful consumer problem, and maintain high formulation standards without compromising affordability.
“The plan is not complicated. Find a problem men actually have, make something that handles it, price it fairly. Keep doing that. That is the whole thing.”
As India’s men’s skincare industry continues to mature, MANNLICH is positioning itself around precision rather than promotion. By focusing on named problems instead of generic promises, the company believes it can build stronger customer trust—and ultimately redefine what men’s skincare should look like in India.
Interview By: Arushi Agarwal
