Freewill

Freewill positions itself in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) personal care market, focusing on providing customized hair care solutions. The company was established in Jaipur, India, in 2018 by brothers Mohit and Rahul Yadav. The venture was founded on the principle of moving away from the mass-produced, one-size-fits-all products common in the beauty industry, instead opting for formulations tailored to individual needs.

The founders, Mohit and Rahul Yadav, brought complementary expertise to the company. Mohit has a background in investment banking and finance, having worked at firms like Credit Suisse, while Rahul's expertise is in technology. Their entrepreneurial journey began before Freewill, with the co-founding of an e-commerce platform that was later acquired. A significant part of their professional experience was at CarDekho, where they observed the effectiveness of customer journey personalization, a concept they decided to apply to the personal care sector. This experience was a direct inspiration for Freewill's business model. Freewill served as a crucial learning experience for the brothers, who later founded the skincare brand Minimalist in 2020.

The core of Freewill's business is its data-driven approach to product creation. The customer journey begins online, where users complete a detailed questionnaire about their hair type, lifestyle, environmental conditions, and specific hair goals. The company's proprietary algorithm processes this data to formulate unique, made-to-order products, primarily shampoos and conditioners. This model represents a shift from the traditional consumer brand strategy of creating a product first and then building a marketing narrative around it. Instead, Freewill starts with customer-specific data to create a suitable product. All products are manufactured in-house and sold exclusively through the company's platform, giving them control over the entire process from formulation to delivery.

Financially, Freewill has attracted notable investment. The company participated in the second cohort of Sequoia Capital's accelerator program, Surge. It has raised a total of $13.1 million over two funding rounds, including a Series A round of $11.1 million on July 23, 2021, led by SCI Ventures. Other investors include Surge and Unilever Ventures. As of its last funding round, the company was valued at $76.9 million. It should be noted that the company's website, joinfreewill.com, has a notice stating it is temporarily not accepting new orders, though existing orders will be fulfilled.

Keywords: personalized haircare, custom beauty, D2C personal care, hair analysis, direct-to-consumer, hair goals, custom shampoo, custom conditioner, AI beauty, Indian beauty startup, Mohit Yadav, Rahul Yadav, Sequoia Surge, data-driven beauty, made-to-order, custom formulations, beauty tech, hair profile, lifestyle-based products, environmental factors