Good Glamm Group fails to pay laid-off employees, delays current staff salaries, shuts two offices
The Good Glamm Group has shut its Kurla West, Mumbai branch and Vasant Kunj office in Delhi as a cost-cutting measure.
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Cash-strapped content-to-commerce firm The Good Glamm Group, which laid off around 150 employees in January this year, has yet to pay salaries, gratuity, and variable amounts, according to company and industry sources. The firm is actively scouting for investors to raise funds at a low valuation following the exit of senior-level people from the company in the past one year.
Sources privy to the development told Storyboard18 that laid-off employees awaiting dues are from branding, sales, tech and supply, content and social media and New Product Development (NPD) teams. The company has also shut its Kurla West, Mumbai office as a cost-cutting measure. Additionally, the company's Delhi office, located at Vasant Kunj, has also been permanently shut.
The Good Glamm has also delayed April salaries for its existing employees, who are likely to receive their salaries in May-end or June.
According to the sources, a liquidity crunch during ongoing fundraising efforts has led to salaries being deferred by a month.
According to individuals familiar with the matter, employees who were recently laid off had requested formal experience letters from the company. However, the firm had reportedly declined, citing pending "clearance" procedures. In response, several former staff members are said to be holding on to company-issued laptops, indicating they will return the equipment only once they receive both their experience documentation and outstanding financial compensation.
Last year, the beleaguered firm laid off some employees in January and announced another major restructuring in April after laying off another 150 employees. When asked about the appraisal of employees, two sources said that the company conducted between October and November and had not previously delayed salary payments to the staff.
The Warburg Pincus-backed firm, once valued at $1.2 billion, has sold several assets at low valuations to ensure survival. These include selling media networks MissMalini Entertainment, ScoopWhoop, and feminine hygiene firm Sirona Hygiene.
In 2024, Sirona Hygiene’s founders bought back their company from Good Glamm Group for Rs 450 crore in an all-cash deal. The Good Glamm sold ScoopWhoop for Rs 18-20 crore, a fraction of its 2021 valuation, to meme marketing agency Wubba Lubba Dub Dub (WLDD) in February this year. And, it sold MissMalini Entertainment to Creativefuel in April this year.
A slew of independent directors, including Anand Daniel, a partner at Accel, Vishal Gupta, a partner at Bessemer, and Gaurav Kothari, a principal at Prosus Ventures, exited the company last year.
Additionally, CXO-level talent such as Sukhleen Aneja, chief executive officer of The Good Brand Co. joined Nykaa.
Co-founder Naiyya Saggi stepped back from executive roles to start her new venture, and Priyanka Gill departed the company to join Kalaari Capital as venture partner in February 2024. She left Bengaluru-based VC firm in February this year and is now launching her own venture, Coluxe, a lab-grown diamond brand, expected to debut in June. The Good Glamm was founded in 2015 by Darpan Sanghvi who was later joined by Gill, Saggi, and Nowshad Rizwanullah. As per reports, the Good Glamm needs Rs 250-500 crore to settle liabilities and payments to vendors, employees, and founders of the companies they acquired.
