Chāmpo

Chāmpo is a British haircare company based in London, founded in 2019 by Kuldeep Knox [10]. It builds its range around Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of medicine and wellbeing, and sorts its products by the three Ayurvedic "doshas" — Vata, Pitta and Kapha — which it presents as a guide to a person's hair type and condition. The brand name comes from the Sanskrit word for shampoo, describing the old practice of cleansing and massaging the head and hair.

The company is still active and trades direct-to-consumer alongside a growing European retail presence. By 2023 it was named the fastest-growing beauty brand in the UK on the Sunday Times 100 list [12], and in 2024 it featured in trade and design press including WWD and Wallpaper*.

Chāmpo was started by Kuldeep Knox, who holds a master's degree from the London School of Economics and worked in private equity before moving into business for herself. According to WWD, she had previously worked at Neo Investment Partners, a British investment firm linked to brands such as Victoria Beckham and Ami Paris [10].

By the company's account, the idea grew out of a personal problem. After experiencing hair thinning, Knox turned to her Indian grandmother — described as a woman in her seventies who still had long, thick, dark hair — and asked about the oils and techniques she had used since childhood. Impressed by the results, Knox researched the practices, traced them to Ayurveda, and set out to adapt them for a modern audience. She has said the experience "really knocked my self confidence" [9]. The business was started with a loan from her parents.

Before launch, the company says it spent 18 months working with independent laboratories and trichologists — specialists in hair and scalp health — to develop shampoos, conditioners, serums, oils and accessories rooted in Ayurvedic ingredients [10].

Chāmpo launched in 2019 and was listed in Harrods from the start. The founding date is given as 2019 by both WWD and the Evelyn Partners founder profile [10][12]; a 2024 Wallpaper* feature placed the launch at roughly four years earlier, around 2020, which the brand's own sources do not support [9].

In December 2021 the company raised 1.2 million US dollars in pre-Series A funding, backed by angel investors and an investment fund supported by the European Investment Bank [11]. WWD later reported figures supplied by the company, including more than 1.5 million products sold since launch and year-on-year growth of 220 percent [10].

The brand's organising idea is the dosha. In Ayurveda these are three governing energies; Chāmpo applies them to hair, comparing them to star signs as a way to identify a hair type's "character traits." Vata is presented as care for dry or damaged hair, Pitta for fine or thinning hair, and Kapha for oily or heavy hair. The company describes its approach as pairing these ancient principles with modern trichology and formulation science, summarised in the tagline "Ancient Wisdom For Modern Hair." Its stated mission is to craft "industry-leading, clinically-proven natural products" [12].

The range is positioned at the upper end of the market. Its main audience, according to WWD, is women with fine or thinning hair looking for natural, science-backed options [10].

Chāmpo makes haircare only: shampoos, conditioners, serums, leave-in treatments, oils and styling products, grouped into the Vata, Pitta and Kapha lines. The brand says its formulas are 98 percent naturally derived, drawn from plant, fruit, nut or non-petroleum mineral sources, and free from sulfates, silicones, parabens and synthetic fragrance. Hero ingredients named by the company include coconut oil, macadamia seed oil, amla oil and haritaki fruit extract.

The brand's best-known product is the Pitta Growth Serum, a scalp treatment combining caffeine, creatine and haritaki extract. Chāmpo states the serum sells one bottle per minute through its direct channel [10], and a Wallpaper* feature reported the company's claim that it visibly increases hair density within a month of use [9]. The products are made in the United Kingdom, with manufacturing in Dorset through a third-party partner.

The company says it has operated on a "low waste model" since the start. Outer boxes are made from 80 percent recycled cardboard, leaflets use Forest Stewardship Council–certified paper, and full-size bottles are PET, a recyclable plastic. Any palm oil derivatives are described as sourced from suppliers certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. The brand also states that its products are vegan and not tested on animals, testing instead with groups of human volunteers, and it displays PETA certification on its site.

Chāmpo's products have been recognised in several British beauty awards, including the Marie Claire Hair Awards in 2020 and the Tatler UK Beauty Awards in 2024. Its strongest external recognition is the 2023 Sunday Times 100 ranking as the UK's fastest-growing beauty brand. It has been covered by WWD and Wallpaper* in 2024 and by trade titles BeautyMatter and Cosmetics Design Europe around its 2021 funding round.

Chāmpo remains an active, independent company. Its most recent visible activity dates to 2024, including the Tatler award and the WWD and Wallpaper* features, alongside a stockist network that has expanded across Europe. Beyond its own online store and UK department stores such as Harrods, Selfridges and H Beauty, it is sold through Sephora in several European markets — including Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain — and through Brown Thomas in Ireland and De Bijenkorf in the Netherlands. The company has described emerging wholesale activity in European and US markets [12].