Indian skincare brand ISLAND Beauty, co-founded by singer and actor Shirley Setia, has raised Rs 2.58 crore from AJVC to support product development, brand awareness and customer acquisition as it looks to expand in India’s competitive beauty market.
Founded by Shirley Setia, Jinsoon Lee, Mayank Jain and Sakshi Jain, the brand focuses on barrier-first skincare, combining Korean skincare ingredients with formulations designed for Indian skin and everyday conditions such as heat, humidity and pollution.
The funding will help ISLAND Beauty strengthen its product portfolio and reach more consumers. Its strategy centres on skin barrier care rather than positioning individual products around a single cosmetic concern.
ISLAND Beauty Builds Its Brand Around Skin Barrier Care
The company has developed its proprietary Core Barrier Matrix, a formulation system comprising CBM-A Repair and CBM-B Defence. According to the brand, the system is designed to support the skin barrier, retain moisture and protect against everyday environmental stress.
Its portfolio includes cleansers, toner and essence products, serums, moisturisers and lip care. One of its key offerings, the Dew Drop Glow Serum, contains 50% Korean rice water and 5% niacinamide.
ISLAND Beauty’s approach brings together Korean skincare expertise and product development for Indian consumers. Jinsoon Lee leads the brand’s formulation and product science, while the wider founding team brings experience across consumer understanding, brand building and operations.
The company also offers a seven-day return policy, subject to its terms and conditions.
Funding to Support Product Development and Customer Acquisition
ISLAND Beauty plans to use the ₹2.58 crore raised from AJ VC for product development, brand awareness and customer acquisition. These priorities reflect the challenges facing emerging skincare brands, which must establish consumer trust while competing for attention in a crowded market.
Product development is particularly important in skincare, where repeat purchases depend on the product experience, suitability for consumers and consistency over time. Brand awareness can help attract first-time buyers, but retaining those customers will be important for building a sustainable business.
The company has not publicly disclosed detailed revenue, customer-retention or unit-economics figures in the material reviewed, making it difficult to assess its current commercial scale independently.
Over the next three years, ISLAND Beauty plans to broaden its product range, increase consumer awareness of barrier-focused skincare and expand its presence in the Indian market.
For Shirley Setia and her co-founders, the next stage will involve turning the brand’s formulation-led positioning into a repeatable consumer business. The funding provides support for product development and customer acquisition, while long-term progress will depend on repeat purchases, product performance and the ability to grow beyond initial brand awareness.
As Indian consumers explore more ingredient-focused skincare routines, ISLAND Beauty is positioning itself around a specific need: products that prioritise the skin barrier and are designed for local conditions. Whether that positioning translates into lasting market share will depend on how well the brand converts consumer interest into loyalty.
