About
Ghazal Alagh (born 2 September 1988) is an Indian entrepreneur, artist, and angel investor best known for co‑founding the toxin‑free personal‑care label Mamaearth and for serving as Chief Innovation Officer at its parent, Honasa Consumer Ltd. When Honasa made its stock‑market debut in November 2023 at a valuation of roughly ₹10,400 crore (US $1.25 billion), Alagh became one of the country’s youngest self‑made women billionaires on paper.
Today she remains a fierce champion of ingredient transparency. In mid‑April 2025 she publicly accused Hindustan Unilever’s Lakmé of copying Mamaearth’s sunscreen claims, a spat that dominated business headlines until a Delhi court directed Lakmé to alter its ads and delete several posts.
Starting with six baby‑care formulas, Mamaearth has grown into a multi‑category brand that sells a wide range of skin‑care, hair‑care and wellness products online and in pharmacies and supermarkets across India. Alagh calls this omni‑channel expansion central to Honasa’s “house‑of‑brands” vision.
Beyond commerce she writes often about sustainable hustle: her LinkedIn post advocating the “85 percent rule”—doing great work without burning out—went viral in March 2025 and is now quoted in leadership workshops.
Her rapid success has landed her on Fortune’s and Forbes’ power lists, and in December 2024 she was the youngest woman featured in Hurun India’s Top 200 Self‑Made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia.
Before Fame
Born in Chandigarh and raised in nearby Gurugram, Alagh balanced technology and art from an early age. She earned a Bachelor’s in Computer Applications from Panjab University in 2010, then indulged her creative side with design and figurative‑art intensives at the New York Academy of Art in 2013.
Her first job was as a corporate trainer with NIIT, where she taught SQL and Java to software engineers—an experience that sharpened her problem‑solving skills and patience.
Motherhood sparked her entrepreneurial pivot. When she and husband Varun struggled to find toxin‑free lotions for their newborn son Agastya in 2014, they began formulating their own recipes. Two years later the couple launched Mamaearth from their Gurugram apartment with six MadeSafe‑certified baby products—the first Asian brand to earn that label. Positive reviews on parenting forums helped the line sell out in a fortnight, laying the foundation for what would become Honasa’s house of digital‑first beauty labels.
Trivia
- Artist at heart: Entrepreneur magazine once listed Alagh among India’s top 10 women artists, and she still auctions her canvases to fund girls’ education.
- Rocket‑ship revenues: Mamaearth crossed the ₹100‑crore revenue run‑rate in under three years, a milestone legacy FMCG giants once needed a decade to hit.
- Reality‑TV investor: She was the only female shark on Season 1 of Shark Tank India (2021‑22) and has since invested in more than twenty early‑stage brands, many led by women founders.
- Viral thought leader: Her “85 percent rule” post on LinkedIn (March 2025) was shared by thousands of managers—including Microsoft’s Satya Nadella—for promoting sustainable high performance.
Family Life
Ghazal married her college friend and business partner Varun Alagh in 2011. They have two sons—Agastya (born 2014) and Ayaan (born March 2022)—and she frequently credits motherhood with sharpening her product instincts.
Home life in Gurugram revolves around weekend painting sessions with the boys and strolls through the Aravalli Bio‑Diversity Park. Varun leads corporate strategy at Honasa, allowing the couple to divide responsibilities without turning family dinners into board meetings.
Associated With
Alagh’s closest professional ally is, of course, her husband and co‑founder Varun. Within Honasa she oversees ingredient innovation for sister brands The Derma Co., Aqualogica, BBlunt, Ayuga and Dr Sheth’s, all of which are highlighted on her social channels.
Her Shark Tank stint created a tight network with fellow investors Aman Gupta, Peyush Bansal, Anupam Mittal, Namita Thapar, Vineeta Singh and Ashneer Grover, and she often collaborates with them on founder boot‑camps and industry panels.
