The Good Glamm Group (GGG), once valued at over $1.2 billion, is set to be dismantled with its brands being sold individually after lenders decided to enforce the sale of each asset separately, founder and CEO Darpan Sanghvi announced in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday.
Debt on GGG
“Our lenders have decided to enforce their charge on the individual brands under the Good Glamm Group. What this means is that there will no longer be a group-wide solution which will allow all the brands to continue under a single umbrella,” Sanghvi wrote in a note addressed to stakeholders.
The content-to-commerce conglomerate, backed by Prosus and Warburg Pincus, has been struggling with mounting debt obligations and high cash burn for over a year. The company had also delayed vendor payments for over a year and paused expansion plans.
It had reportedly been attempting to negotiate a down round with Gujarat-based Veloce Fintech in recent months.
The Mumbai-based company has also been offloading assets under distress over the past year. Women’s wellness brand Sirona was bought back by its founders, while digital media platform ScoopWhoop was sold for just Rs18-20 crore — a fraction of its 2021 valuation. The group was also reportedly in talks to sell influencer marketing subsidiary Miss Malini for Rs 4 crore, significantly below its Rs 70-80 crore acquisition price in 2021.
Taking full responsibility for the group’s collapse, Sanghvi made personal financial commitments to stakeholders. “As the founder, this is on me. The decisions, the choices that didn’t work, the risks that didn’t pay off, and the people who have been impacted: employees, vendors, partners, lenders, shareholders,” he stated.
The CEO committed to dedicating 25% of his post-tax earnings from any future venture toward settling employee dues if lenders cannot complete brand sales or clear outstanding payments. Additionally, he announced plans to establish a “Good Glamm Restitution Fund” within 60 days, which will receive equity allocation from his next venture to address vendor payments and shareholder losses.
Good Glamm Group
Founded by Sanghvi, Priyanka Gill and Naiyya Saggi, Good Glamm Group achieved unicorn status in 2021 with a valuation of $1.26 billion. In total, it had raised over $250 million from marquee investors including Prosus, Warburg Pincus, and Bessemer Venture Partners. GGG’s debt obligations extend to lenders including Stride Ventures, Trifecta Capital, Alteria Capital, Oxyzo and credit lines from HDFC Bank and HSBC.
The company operated through three main verticals: The Good Brands Co (beauty and personal care brands including MyGlamm, St. Botanica, The Moms Co, and Organic Harvest), The Good Media Co (digital platforms like POPxo, ScoopWhoop, and Miss Malini) and The Good Creator Co (influencer marketing platform).
The Good Glamm Group’s downfall underscores the challenges facing cash-intensive D2C businesses in the current funding environment, where growth-at-all-costs strategies are being replaced by demands for profitability and sustainable unit economics. “We don’t talk enough about what happens when things don’t go to plan. When the hype fades. When ambition outruns execution. When real people get hurt,” Sanghvi wrote, addressing fellow entrepreneurs.