Lifestyle brands such as beauty salon Bliss Beauty, the latest trend in the country, have attracted more than $2.4 billion in venture capital investments, making it the country’s largest venture capital fund, according to data compiled by the investment advisory firm.

The firm said on Thursday that Bliss Beauty’s $1.4bn fund, which invests in technology startups, attracted a total of $1 billion in funding, bringing the total to $1bn.

The group is also the largest venture fund for women in India, with investments of $500m in 2017.

The funds’ founder and CEO, Adhuri Sharma, has made the group the first woman-owned venture fund to receive venture capital funding from any Indian company.

Bliss Beauty opened in June last year and focuses on beauty products and services, including skincare and makeup, according the firm.

Sharma, who started the company with her husband, Suresh, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that it is important for women to “live their dream” and that they should “invest in themselves”.

“The beauty industry is an asset class for women and they are the backbone of our economy,” Sharma said.

“If we invest in ourselves, we will achieve our dream.”

In its 2017 report, Invest India said that the value of the Indian beauty industry in terms of assets was valued at $2,879 billion.

The country was ranked eighth in the world for the value, according data from the investment arm of the World Economic Forum.

The report said that in the past 10 years, India has seen a rise in beauty industry investment of 7.5%, while growth in women’s business sector, including the retail sector, saw an increase of 20%.

“We are looking at women’s businesses as an investment opportunity,” Sharma told the foundation.

“This is something that we can see in the growth of the beauty industry.”