The Good Glamm Group lays off 150 employees, restructures business ahead of IPO

Darpan Sanghvi, Group Founder & CEO of Good Glamm Group

Content-to-commerce unicorn The Good Glamm Group has laid off 150 employees to streamline departments, appointed new business heads and revamped organisational structure ahead of its IPO expected in Diwali 2025.

This comes just days after the startup entered the US market in partnership with tennis legend Serena Williams' cosmetics brand, Wyn Beauty. The startup is currently in the midst of raising $70 million in a Series E round, of which it has already secured $30 million in the first tranche.

“The Agile Organizational Framework has been created by the Group to focus on maximizing value for customers (internal and external) by minimizing lags in execution and operations,” the startup said in a statement.

It added, “This included the Group streamlining overall ways of working between departments by increasing cross departmental responsibilities, faster decision making by empowering junior managers with controlled budgets and collapsing hierarchies and eliminating redundancies (people, process, and system) for reducing steps in execution and enhancing productivity.”

Apart from the appointment of the new Group Chief Financial Officer Kamal Lath, the company announced a slew of leadership elevations including appointment of Manan Jain as Group Chief Operating Officer, Kartik Rao as Group Chief People Officer and SVP of Founder Initiatives, Ketan Bhatia as Group Brand Director, Avalok Langer as Group Chief Creative Officer, Ajesh Narayanan as Group Design Head, Ashish Jadhav as Group Head of Product and Ankita Bhardwaj as Director - Brand & Marketing.

The startup has also launched an Entrepreneur in Residence program and a GlammSOP program for accelerated vesting of ESOPs during the IPO.

"In tandem with these talent developments, wealth creation & organizational development, the Good Glamm Group remains dedicated towards streamlining processes, fostering professional growth, and bolstering agility," the company added in its statement.

The cost cutting measure comes at a time when the company is preparing to raise $70 million in a Series E round at a flat valuation of $1.2 billion.

This was after it raised a bridge round of around $25-30 million led by Warburg Pincus and Prosus Ventures, according to regulatory filings sourced from Tofler.

The startup became a unicorn in 2021 at a valuation of $1.2 billion, after raising $150 million in its Series D round co-led by Prosus Ventures (Naspers), Warburg Pincus. The round also saw participation from Alteria Capital and existing investors L’Occitane, Bessemer Venture Partners, Amazon, Ascent Capital and the Mankekar Family Office.

It has so far acquired around 12 brands across its four verticals, including product and content companies.