Incorporated in 2021, the Good Glam Group—a content-to-commerce conglomerate—plans to go public by 2024. That is akin to racing a company from starting point to the finishing line, like a Formula One driver.

With 12 acquisitions under its belt and an eye on global expansion, can the unicorn achieve what it has planned? Co-founders Darpan Sanghvi, Priyanka Gill and Naiyya Saggi tell Outlook Business how they intend to accomplish this.

Edited excerpts: 

The Good Glam Group currently has three core segments—Good Brands Co comprising its direct to consumer (D2C) beauty and personal care brands; Good Media Co encompassing its digital media brands and the influencer platform Good Creator Co. What's your next foray?

Darpan Sanghvi: We are already the largest digital media publisher in India with four billion organic impressions, the most significant influencer platform in India with 1 million influencers and the most extensive direct-to-consumer beauty brand portfolio. Our next aim is to become the largest community player in India, where both online and offline communities are part of the 'Good Community'. 

This will come up in the next 12 months and then we have our international division. We have started sales in the UAE and will soon be available in Saudi Arabia and Moscow. 

Traditional FMCG companies take decades to build themselves and grow steadily, while your company is growing fast. Are you taking too much risk?

Darpan: Our biggest advantage as a start-up is our speed and agility; it is in our DNA. The fundamental difference between traditional entrepreneurs and us is that their business was completely built offline. If we had to make it that way, we would have taken a similar approach and timeframe. 

However, as digital entities, we can leapfrog since being online brings agility, which helps spot trends and react to them quickly. Let me give an example. 

We launch a product within 90 days of an idea, while a traditional FMCG company takes 18 to 24 months to launch a new product. Also, customers spend a lot of time shopping online, so we must be there where they are. 

With the pandemic subsiding, people are reverting to physical shopping. How do you plan to balance this, since being online is unlikely to work for the long term?

Darpan: Absolutely, we have to be available on the customers' smartphones and in the physical marketplace. We are present in 50,000 points of sale across India. 

Our international plans are based on a similar model. The brands we acquired have a robust offline presence and a ready infrastructure.

Moreover, we have established a solid offline experience team, who have worked with FMCGs and can preempt the learnings needed to build offline. 

So, while we are digital-first, about 30 per cent of our revenue comes from offline sales. We recently ave opened a 3,500 square feet experience store in Mumbai's Juhu area, which a New York-based architect designed. 

What is your biggest focus area right now?

Darpan: The one goal everybody is aligned to is launching our IPO within two years, which we hope will be among India's largest ones. Individually, everybody has their focus very clearly defined for each vertical because the focus for a media is very different from a creator and a brand. 

One consistent theme will be high growth with profitability. Myglamm, for example, is the number three makeup brand in India, but we are working towards becoming number 1. So, while we never buy competing brands, it is better to buy than build because that saves time. 

How do the various verticals complement each other?  

Naiyya Saggi: The first thing we need is an audience, which comes from our media and creator verticals—we have 200 million monthly active users across platforms, which is half of India's digital audience. The intention is to keep growing that funnel, organically reaching out to our users every month without spending any marketing dollars. 

After Good Glam Group acquires users through content and creators, we show them our brand products and encourage them to buy. Wrapping all of this are strong layers of technology and product development. 

Another critical thing is the layer of data binding all this. Given our various platforms, we have a bird's eye view of what the consumer is watching, reading and thinking. That data becomes pivotal in helping us create products that users want and also allows us to surface products that they might be seeking. 

We ensure that they are converted into purchases through our creators—they provide amplification at no extra cost. So, it is like a full circle.

Isn't it detrimental once the consumer discovers that the same group owns the product promoted on your platforms?

Priyanka: That is something we grappled with a lot about initially. But then we come back to the word 'independence'. 

So, we keep in mind that when promoting a lipstick by MyGlamm, we talk about nine other lipstick brands on our media and creator platform. As long as we can maintain our independence editorially, which we so far have been able to do, we can give honest service to our consumers. 

We are cautious about not forcing a product on a customer. So, our editorial team, or our beauty team, has the independence that if they like a particular product, they can go to town about it. 

Also, we announce a brand or product with much fanfare whenever we acquire it. So, it is not something that we hide from our audience. 

In one of your earlier interviews, you spoke about keeping aside Rs 750 crore for acquisitions. How much of that has been used to acquire brands? 

Darpan: We raised that amount in our Series C funding, which we have already spent in acquisitions. We also did a Series D round last year to raise Rs 1,000 crore, which we have yet to use for any fresh acquisitions. We have kept it for the organic growth of our business up till the IPO. 

Will you achieve the target of Rs 100 crore that you have set for this year?

Darpan: I don't want to give any specific number, but this year looks good. Despite the uncertainties, we are seeing our best numbers as a consumer company. 

Our September revenues grew by 20 per cent over August figures, even before Diwali, despite cutting back on marketing spending. 

MyGlamm continues to be the unique brand of your conglomerate. How will you build another brand within the group as big as MyGlamm?

Darpan: That's something in my mind every day. It's a $100 million revenue earner for us, but that has not happened in only a few days. So, every brand we intend to build has to go through the MyGlamm journey. 

Whenever we acquire a brand, we ensure that it has a very sharp point of view. Do we understand what it is going to own for us? We try to know if new customers are trying the brand because you need the trials to ensure retention. 

Then you start investing in brand building through smart campaigns, influencer activations, etc. We also ensure to buy only one brand in the same category. 

Why are you planning an IPO so soon?  

Darpan: We believe that every company must have a natural destination, which is India's public market for us. People recognise our brands here and India has the best consumer multiple. IPO is a great way to strengthen the company. We have been able to attract several investors already, so our IPO will be about something other than giving an exit to our investors. 

Most of the money we raised as entrepreneurs happened last year, and 85 per cent to 90 per cent of these investors are in for a five to seven-year horizon. We will not do an IPO for the heck of it, but only when we have the right scale and are profitable. 

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