D2C player MyGlamm emerges stronger from setbacks, plans to float IPO

The company, which saw investors pull out of a fund raise as the pandemic struck, is now eyeing an annual revenue run rate of Rs 600 cr by this December

From investors pulling out of a fund raise as the pandemic started, to signing actor Shraddha Kapoor as brand ambassador and investor, direct-to-consumer (D2C) player MyGlamm has emerged a much stronger player as it eyes an annual revenue run rate of Rs 600 crore by the end of CY2021.

Even as the company grappled with the sudden lockdowns at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, founder Darpan Sanghavi continued to take bold bets that are now beginning to show results. The growth trajectory that these bold moves have given the company has made Sanghavi confident that the company can look at an IPO in 24-36 months’ time.

The first bet the company took even as it was struggling to get its revenue streams growing was acquisition of POPxo-Plixo. This acquisition instantly gave MyGlamm access to 150,000 influencers, 88 million female users a year and 1.5 billion annual video views.

Two, Sanghavi decided to expand the brands offline presence. In November 2020, the company launched its flagship store spread over 3,000 sq ft designed and brought to life by School House, a beauty creative agency from New York city. They also expanded their distribution network to over the counter distribution. Pre-pandemic the company had a shop-in-shop distribution network. In a short period of six months the distribution reach was expanded to 10,000 points of sales, and will take this network to 35,000 by the end of this year.

“I have to thank our investors who continued to back us on all our audacious plans. After the fund leading our Series C pulled out our existing investors like L’Occitane and Bessemer Venture Partners supported us. This also taught a lesson, that having the right investors can either make or break a company,” said Sanghavi.

At the start of the national lockdown in March 2020, the company had close to 1,000 employees, had an unsold inventory of $20 million, pending orders of $20 million, payables of $5 million and almost zero revenue.

Differentiating factor:

When asked what convinced them to go for an acquisition when they were themselves struggling, Sanghavi said that the acquisition fits their content-to-commerce strategy.

“We knew they were a great brand that we could use to deepen our reach to consumers and cut down on marketing spends. No one so far has been able to create a content-to-commerce model successfully as the content platforms always struggle to make money. With POPxo-Plixo we are perhaps the only one in this segment to create a truly content-to-commerce model,” added Sanghavi.

MyGlamm brand propagates cruelty free beauty products and clean beauty. It has three million registered users and 2 million transacted users on its platform. Sanghavi also adds that with POPxo the company on a monthly basis connects with 45 per cent of all active female social media users. Unlike several digital native beauty brands, MyGlamm gets 60-65 per cent of its transactions from its own app and platform.

Sanghavi is confident that in the next 12 months the company will grow its 2 million user base to 5 million. One of the contributors to this rising number will be actor Shraddha Kapoor, who is the brand ambassador of the company as well as an investor.

“Other than the fact that Shraddha believes in clean beauty too, she has a following of 62 million on Instagram. And she also has got high engagement rates. The fact that she is well connected with her fans and followers was a great asset for us as we can now reach out to another level. We can connect with her followers and understand how we can offer new products,” shared Sanghavi.

Competition:

The Indian beauty industry has seen a lot of interest from the investor community with players such as Nykaa, Purplle and others having successfully raised funds. The recent takeover of Vini Cosmetics by private equity player KKR just adds to the boom. The Indian beauty industry is expected to reach Rs 1.11 trillion in four years according to a 2020 report by Euromonitor.

This has led to the emergence of several home grown brands specializing in clean beauty, Ayurveda, to cater to India specific skin-tones products. Also videos have become a key advisor for beauty related issues.

That does not bother Sanghavi much: “In terms of consumption of beauty and personal care (BPC) products India lags even some of the south East Asian countries. The per capita consumption of beauty in India is the lowest. Consumers are still waking up to this trend. The next 3-5 years you will see 10-12 brands being built out and they will be here to stay.” MyGlamm has positioned itself as a clean beauty product provider and going ahead the brand will have 100 per cent vegan products. “The new age user is very aware and conscientious, in a few years clean beauty is going to be a must and we are ahead in our game. Most of our products are vegan. We will soon move to 100 per cent vegan and also move to a sustainable way of packaging,” he added.