Parul Gulati started Nish Hair from her living room | Now it is worth rs 50 crore

Parul Gulati had no business plan when she started. No MBA, no co-founder, no investor on speed dial. What she had was a living room, her mother sitting next to her, and a pair of hands willing to sew hair pieces together for however long it took.

“I wanted to build something bigger than myself and leave my legacy behind,” she has said.

It took three months to sell three pieces. That is where Nish Hair began.

From Rohtak to Mumbai

Parul was born on August 6, 1991, in Rohtak, Haryana, into a lower-middle-class Punjabi family. In Class 12, a talent scout noticed a photo she posted on Facebook and reached out. Her parents were shocked. She went for the audition anyway and was cast as Yami Gautam’s sister in the TV series Yeh Pyar Na Hoga Kam.

“To convince my parents to let me pursue acting was challenging. They were shocked initially but in the end, they agreed,” she has said.

In 2010, she moved to Mumbai, juggling modelling and acting while studying at the University of Mumbai. In 2013, she flew to London and enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, one of the world’s most respected drama institutions. She trained, returned to India, and built a body of work that spanned television, Punjabi films, and OTT.

Her most recognised role came through Girls Hostel for The Viral Fever, where she played Zahira Ali from 2018 to 2022, building a loyal following among young Indian audiences. Other credits include P.O.W. Bandi Yuddh Ke, Haq Se, Selection Day on Netflix, The Raikar Case, Illegal: Justice Out of Order, Your Honor, Made in Heaven Season 2, Silence 2 in 2024, and Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon 2 in 2025 alongside Kapil Sharma. Tu Yaa Main is lined up for 2026.

Through all of it, she was quietly building something else entirely.

The Idea She Found on a Reality Show

It was 2016. Parul Gulati was watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians when she heard Khloe Kardashian talk about hair extensions. She looked at what was available in India: expensive salon treatments, low-quality synthetics, and imported human hair products priced out of reach for most Indian women. Almost nothing was designed for Indian hair textures at an accessible price point.

The gap was personal too. She had always cared deeply about her hair. For her and for the women around her, hair was tied to confidence and identity in ways the market was not addressing.

“Hair is a vital part of our identity and confidence. For many women, hair loss can deeply impact their self-esteem. Just as makeup conceals dark circles, our hair extensions are like a concealer for hair thinning, providing instant coverage and instilling confidence,” she has said.

She also saw the need among women dealing with cancer, alopecia, and other conditions causing hair loss. Nobody was building an affordable, quality solution for them in India. She learned how hair extensions were made, realised it was more achievable than she had assumed, and decided to build it herself.

Rs 30,000, a Couch, and No Customers

In 2017, Parul Gulati launched Nish Hair from her living room in Mumbai with Rs 30,000 of her own savings. She and her mother sewed pieces by hand. There was no team, no warehouse, no marketing budget.

The first year was a slow grind. She went door to door. She spoke to hairstylists to spread the word. She sold a Rs 6,000 product to a friend for Rs 3,000 just to record a sale. She personally replied to every DM on Instagram, building trust one conversation at a time.

“I remember struggling to simply build awareness about how normal it could be to use hair extensions,” she has said.

The cultural barrier was real. In India at that time, hair extensions were seen as either a Bollywood luxury or not discussed at all. Many people assumed Nish Hair was a hobby she ran between acting jobs. She addressed that perception without bitterness:

“I have been a happy-go-lucky person who perceives the glass to be half full and that is how I address all challenging situations.”

Within a few months of finding traction, Nish Hair crossed Rs 50 lakh in sales. The business had found its footing.

The Product Behind the Brand

Nish Hair sources human hair from two vendors who manage the collection and cleaning process. The team then handles colouring, preparation, and manufacturing. The brand currently offers 45 SKUs across four categories: volume, length, coverage, and style. Products include clip-in extensions, hair toppers, wigs, coloured extensions, clip-on bangs, strandouts, accessories, and a recently launched hair perfume.

Pricing runs from Rs 1,100 for a single strand to Rs 10,000 to Rs 36,000 for fuller coverage options, depending on length and requirement.

“We offer a diverse range of prices to cater to different needs because we understand that pricing sensitivity varies in India,” Parul has said.

Products are available on Nish Hair’s own website, Amazon, and Blinkit. The brand also runs a studio in Mumbai where customers can book trials and consultations, has expanded through salon partnerships in cities including Jaipur, and opened its first dedicated offline store at Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, in 2025.

The team is entirely women-led, a decision Parul Gulati made from the start and has maintained as the brand scaled.

Shark Tank India Season 2: The Turning Point

In March 2023, Parul appeared on the finale episode of Shark Tank India Season 2, asking for Rs 1 crore for 2% equity at a valuation of Rs 50 crore. Before the episode aired, Nish Hair’s monthly revenue stood at Rs 80 lakh.

Sharks Vineeta Singh and Aman Gupta offered Rs 1 crore for 3% equity. Amit Jain, CEO and co-founder of CarDekho, matched her exact ask: Rs 1 crore for 2%. No counter, no negotiation on the valuation. She accepted.

When the episode aired, revenue tripled. Monthly sales reached approximately Rs 2.4 crore. The brand went from a name the D2C community knew to one millions of Indian women had heard of in a single weekend. Parul has described it as one of the top three moments of her life, and not only because of the money. It gave her team the confidence to stop planning small.

Following the Shark Tank round, Nish Hair received a seed investment from GirnarSOFT in April 2024, adding further institutional backing to the brand.

Two Careers, No Compromise

Parul has been consistent on this: she has not stepped back from acting, and she is not planning to.

“I am married to acting and Nish Hair is my baby. I cannot leave either of them and it’s possible for women to do multiple things at the same time,” she has said.

She has spoken about running on 22-hour days to keep both alive. The acting career brings consumers to Nish Hair who trust her product choices because they trust her as a person. The business gives her acting career a dimension that most performers in her peer group do not carry. Her Instagram following of approximately 1.5 million as of 2026 remains the brand’s most effective organic discovery channel.

Net Worth and Recognition

Parul Gulati’s net worth is estimated at approximately Rs 8 to Rs 10 crore as of 2026, from acting fees, brand collaborations, and her majority founder’s stake in Nish Hair. With the brand valued at over Rs 50 crore and scaling, that figure is likely conservative.

She won the MTV IWMBuzz Digital Award in 2019, appeared at Cannes 2025 to significant fashion coverage, and has spoken at the Global Startup Summit by 21BY72 and the International Investor Summit in the UAE.