Fall of Good Glamm, Incuspaze’s Acquisition, and Eternal Appoints Aditya Mangla

The story of The Good Glamm Group is a cautionary tale. From unicorn status and funding highs to mass layoffs, asset sales, and boardroom exits, its rise and fall reveal what happens when ambition races ahead of discipline.

Founded by Darpan Sanghvi, the story of The Good Glamm Group begins like many others from India’s D2C boom. In its early days, it started out as a marketplace for beauty products. The idea was to tap into the growing demand for beauty and personal care in India, and for a while, it worked. There was good traction in the early days.

In 2017, MyGlamm shifted from an on-demand beauty service to a D2C beauty brand. This move was a strategic decision to leverage the stronger potential of selling their own cosmetic products. But there was a catch - the customer acquisition costs were too high. For every order worth ₹750, the company was spending nearly ₹1000 to acquire that customer. That math didn’t work. This forced Sanghvi to rethink the approach. That’s when the shift happened, and the company turned to content.

The bet was on a content-to-commerce strategy. The idea was that if you could engage customers through content, especially through platforms women trusted and consumed regularly, you could bring CAC down significantly. In theory, it was elegant. And in the beginning, it seemed to work.

The acquisition of POPxo and BabyChakra gave the company two strong content platforms and ready-made audiences. This gave the Good Glamm team confidence. If a couple of acquisitions could give distribution and customer trust, why not scale that up?

So, they did. One after another, Good Glamm went on a shopping spree. MissMalini for Bollywood lifestyle content. ScoopWhoop for male-centric and general youth content. The Moms Co and Organic Harvest for scaling their D2C brand portfolio. Sirona for menstrual hygiene. The hope was that a large audience base from these content platforms would drive low-cost, high-conversion sales for the in-house product brands.

Investors loved the idea. Content to commerce was a new narrative, D2C was hot in 2021, and funding was overflowing. Over $342 million was raised across several rounds. In November 2021 alone, the company raised $150 million in Series D funding, which gave Good Glamm unicorn status with a $1.2 billion valuation. Major investors like Accel, Prosus Ventures, Warburg Pincus, and Bessemer Venture Partners backed the company. The board bought into the vision, believing this could be a $10 billion IPO story.

But things didn’t go as planned. The core assumption that audiences from content platforms would easily convert into paying customers, didn’t materialize. Integration between teams was poor. ScoopWhoop, built for young male audiences, couldn’t drive sales for Sirona’s hygiene products. MissMalini’s Bollywood stories didn’t convert into Organic Harvest’s skincare sales.

The promised CAC benefits also didn’t play out. As it turned out, operating and integrating these diverse platforms was expensive. Building synergy was difficult. And internally, cultures clashed. Instead of functioning as a cohesive machine, each acquired brand ran like its own island.

This misalignment resulted in rising costs. In FY21, losses were around ₹43 crore. By FY22, the company reported losses of ₹272 crore, and by FY23, losses ballooned to over ₹917 crore. Revenue grew but not in proportion to expenses. From ₹54 crore in FY21, revenue rose to ₹239 crore in FY22 and further to ₹528 crore in FY23, but the company was still far from breakeven.

To fund these acquisitions and operations, Good Glamm relied heavily on equity financing, but also began raising debt in 2023 and 2024 as investor confidence waned. High integration costs included tech backend restructuring, warehousing, team redundancies, and brand relaunch efforts. These pushed CAC back up to ₹900+ for several brands.

By 2022, it became clear that brand synergies were not playing out as expected. Internally, leadership realized that the Thrasio-style rollup strategy was not working. But they had already raised money and were committed to delivering growth. Instead of halting, they pursued more acquisitions. By 2023, cracks had begun to show. The company restructured teams, tried merging functions, but cultural misfits persisted.

Around this time, the company was in talks for a large strategic deal, maybe a merger or an acquisition of Good Glam, as disclosed by Sanghvi through a LinkedIn post. That deal fell through. With debt piling up and profitability out of sight, board members began to step away. In January 2025, Accel, Prosus, and Bessemer resigned from the board. Investor faith had eroded.

The board, despite its stature, did not intervene during 2021 and 2022. They were optimistic and enamored by the unicorn tag. Governance was weak. Reports later revealed that financial projections were often overly optimistic, and internal dissent was overlooked. Once the numbers started deteriorating, the board’s influence declined.

The company couldn’t pay salaries to its employees from May 2025 onwards, and finally it all came to an end on July 5th when Good Glam Group’s CEO issued a public apology on LinkedIn for unpaid salaries and vendor dues. They also shut down many of its offices, and are currently exploring possibilities for any restructuring options, which seems unlikely.

This story is a cautionary tale for India’s startup ecosystem in more ways than one. The content-to-commerce model may work in theory, but execution matters. Acquisitions can lead to growth but can destabilize. The Indian consumer doesn’t always follow predictable behavior. And unchecked ambition, even when well-funded, can lead to collapse.

Let’s go through what else is happening in Indian startup world - Grab your simmering cup of StartupChai.in and unwind with our hand-brewed memes.

“Mai Nikla Gaddi Leke”: WTi Cabs Becomes India’s largest Uber black fleet operator

WTi Cabs just took pole position as India’s largest Uber Black fleet operator, cruising ahead in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.

Their premium lineup is sleek sedans and plush SUVs like the Toyota Hyryder and MG ZS EV. So next time you tap on Uber Black, chances are you’re riding WTi style.

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“Hum Saath Saath Hai”: Incuspaze Acquires SaaS platform VSKOUT To Build GCC Vertical

Incuspaze is on a shopping spree - after snapping up TRIOS, it’s now acquired SaaS platform VSKOUT in a cash-and-equity deal.

The goal is to build a GCC-focused vertical powered by deep real estate analytics. With VSKOUT’s insights engine in tow, Incuspaze is betting big on India’s evolving workspace game.

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“Aaaiye Aapka Intezaar Tha”: BigBasket Appoints Ex-Vini Cosmetics Executive Manish Bajoria As CFO

BigBasket has appointed industry veteran Manish Bajoria as CFO, signaling a cautious but deliberate shift in its leadership as it enters a demanding new phase.

With experience across Vini Cosmetics, Amazon, and HUL, Bajoria steps in as the company transitions to a high-stakes 10-minute delivery model. As BigBasket eyes $1.5B in sales and a 20% cut in losses for FY25, the road ahead seems both ambitious and fraught with pressure.

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“Bhuvan Mangalam, Agni Mangalam, Eternal Mangalam”: Eternal Appoints Aditya Mangla As Food Delivery CEO

Aditya Mangla is stepping up as the new CEO of Eternal’s food delivery business, taking over the reins from Rakesh Ranjan after his two-year run.

Mangla isn’t new to the kitchen, he’s been with Eternal since 2021, heading product for the same vertical. With this move, Eternal seems to be keeping it in the family as it stirs up its next phase of growth.

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1. Khetika has raised $18 Mn in Series B funding to scale its preservative-free processed foods, tapping into the clean eating wave. The round was co-led by Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office and Anicut Capital, with continued support from existing investors.
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2. As quick commerce accelerates, Yulu has bagged ₹25.7 Cr in fresh funding from Canada’s Magna International. The electric mobility startup is riding high on demand, with this boost powering its Series B momentum.
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3. InPrime Finserv has raised $6M in a Series A1 round led by Pravega Ventures to deepen its reach among India’s emerging middle class. With support from existing investors, the NBFC aims to expand into underserved regions and support micro-entrepreneurs left out of the formal financial net.
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4. Spiritual lifestyle brand Divine Hindu has secured ₹1.56 Cr in seed funding from BeyondSeed, D2C Insider Super Angels, and Signal Ventures. The round marks a growing investor interest in India’s booming spiritual and devotional commerce space.
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