Major Rejig At Beardo: CEO Goes On Sabbatical; Two Other Senior Exits Since Feb

Three years since FMCG major Marico acquired Beardo, a major rejig has reportedly happened at the men’s grooming company.

As per Moneycontrol, the startup’s CEO Sujot Malhotra has gone on a year-long sabbatical effective April 1. Alongside, at least two other top executives, who initially helmed the ship at Beardo, have exited the company in the past three months.

The company’s head of marketing, Darayus Mehta, and head of finance and operations, Ketan Jain, have bid adieu to the company since the beginning of this year, as per the report.

Mehta has founded his own jewellery venture while Jain has joined Beardo cofounder Ashutosh Valani’s new startup Renee. Meanwhile, it remains unclear whether Malhotra will return back to the startup post his year-long break.

Sources reportedly said that the responsibilities of the CEO are likely to be divided between Beardo chief business officer Siddharth Vaya and head of Marico’s digital first businesses, Koteshwar LN. The two will now lead the startup’s operations.

“The exits of individuals mentioned in the article were in the normal course of business and at different points in time where each of them decided to pursue external career/entrepreneurial opportunities after spending significant time with the company,” a Marico spokesperson told the publication.

The FMCG giant also said that “none of these exits” were interlinked with each other. 

Interestingly, this comes just months after Marico India CEO Sanjay Mishra, who was instrumental in executing the acquisition of Beardo back in 2020, also left the company in September 2023.

With Malhotra now on sabbatical, all key executives, who helmed the Beardo’s ship for the last three years post Marico’s acquisition, have left the company. 

Founded in 2015 by Ashutosh Valani and Priyank Shah, Marico-owned Beardo is a men’s grooming startup that sells hair and body care products such as beard washes, beard balm, beard and hair growth oil, serum, face washes, beard and hair wax, among others.

It competes against the likes of Bombay Shaving Company, The Man Company, Bold Care, among others. 

The exits come at a time amid intense competition in the homegrown D2C ecosystem and losses at the grooming brand. The company reported a loss of INR 6.1 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) as against a net profit of INR 75.5 Lakh in the previous fiscal. However, revenue from operations jumped 12.3% YoY to INR 106.6 Cr in the year ended March 2023.

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