The Good Glamm Group, a beauty and personal care brand facing a series of challenges, has acknowledged that it is experiencing severe financial stress. He recalled the company was on the verge of selling one of its brands at the end of its funding cycle, a transaction that would have provided the funds to secure the brand’s future.
“Everything was done, but just before we could sign and secure Good Glamm, the CEO of the acquiring company stepped down at the last moment, and the deal fell through. It was a gut punch out of nowhere that sent us scrambling for funding and securing a lifeline,” CEO Darpan Sanghvi wrote in a post on LinkedIn.
“This set off a chain of financial strain resulting in salary disruptions and operational payment disruptions that directly impacted business and made generating cash flows hard. And raising money even harder. Since then, we have been trying everything possible to generate cash to pay our employees, and also keep the business operational, so that we are able to raise funds to bring the business back on its feet,” he added.
However, Sanghvi said the start-up has now entered several restructuring discussions with its lenders. “There are several restructuring discussions underway in conjunction with our lenders. As we make progress, I’ll continue to share updates”.
“It is my moral responsibility to resolve this for every past and present employee, and for every stakeholder (whether its our lenders, vendors and our equity shareholders) and set things right, and I promise you: I will not stop until I do,” he assured.
What Went Wrong with The Good Glamm Group?
The beauty brand failed to pay salaries for the past two months amid a severe cash crunch and ongoing fundraising challenges. It also delayed payments for current employees, and the full and final settlements for former staff still remain pending.
To save the sinking ship, the Mumbai-based brand has been selling or considering the sale of multiple portfolio brands. Currently, it is weighing the possibility of divesting its stake in personal care label Organic Harvest, potentially selling it back to the brand’s original founders.
During this period of uncertainty, a number of employees took an exit from the company. Among the most notable is Kartik Rao, the group’s former chief people officer and board member at WYN Beauty - a joint venture with Serena Williams - who has exited to join AI recruitment startup Vahan.ai.
The company even closed its Vasant Kunj office in New Delhi earlier this year. Operations were briefly relocated to a facility in Greater Kailash, but employees have since transitioned to working remotely, according to a staff member.
It also sold its media and influencer talent division, MissMalini Entertainment, to the marketing agency Creativefuel. In February, Good Glamm sold feminine hygiene brand Sirona back to its original founders for ₹150 crore.
The company also sold its digital media arm, ScoopWhoop, to Bengaluru-based meme marketing firm WLDD for ₹18–20 crore - significantly lower than the ₹100 crore it had paid for the acquisition in 2021.
Additionally, it has explored divesting its stakes in other assets, such as the personal care brand The Moms Co. and the content platform POPxo. On January 29, board members representing Accel, Prosus Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners stepped down, signaling growing investor unease.
