Beauty and personal care conglomerate Good Glamm Group has completed the acquisition of Sirona Hygiene for Rs 450 crore (approximately $60 million) in an all-cash deal, marking one of the largest cash exits for a direct-to-consumer (D2C) startup in India, especially in the FemTech space.

Co-founders Deep Bajaj and Mohit Bajaj had stepped down from their active roles early this year and have now resigned as active directors too, paving the way for a new chapter in Sirona’s journey.

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Darpan Sanghvi, group founder and CEO, Good Glamm Group said the trust of Sirona founders in Good Glamm Group’s vision has been instrumental in this acquisition.

“We share a common goal of empowering women through innovative and accessible health solutions,” said Sanghvi.

Valued at over Rs 450 crore, the group said the deal reinforces the confidence the market has in Sirona’s innovative approach. The transaction has also provided windfall benefits to Sirona’s employees through accelerated ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) vesting, resulting in early financial gains.

Founded in 2014-15, Sirona offers a range of products that cater to women from puberty to menopause. The brand has introduced innovations such as PeeBuddy, stand-and-pee device for women and products like herbal period pain patches, exhaustive menstrual cups range, period stain removers, anti-chafing rash creams and sanitary disposal bags.

“From PeeBuddy, now used by over 3 million women, to Sirona menstrual cups, used by 4 million women as a pad alternative, we’ve built India’s highest-selling D2C feminine hygiene brand,” Deep said.

“It hasn’t been an easy road — bootstrapping, overcoming fundraising challenges, breaking taboos, and dealing with copycats — we have seen it all. This all-cash acquisition feels like validation for all the hard work,” Deep said.

In 2022, Good Glamm Group invested Rs 100 crore in Sirona through primary and secondary investments, delivering substantial returns of 6x to 20x for early angel and seed investors. Since then, Sirona has tripled its revenues in just 24 months. Their pay it forward arm Sirona Foundation also educated over 100,000 girls on the importance of menstrual hygiene and donated over 10,000 cups to women in need during this period.

Sirona has seamlessly integrated technology into its products, launching India’s first WhatsApp period tracker and building a vibrant online community through its app. It has also taken bold steps to enhance feminine hygiene accessibility, installing feminine hygiene vending pods at Delhi airport. It also acquired IMpower, a women’s safety pepper spray brand, and India’s first vegan condom brand, BLEU.

“Building Sirona wasn’t easy — there were moments of struggle, doubt, and hardship. But through it all, what kept us going was the unwavering belief in our mission and the trust of those who stood by us,” said Mohit about the deal. “This moment is both bittersweet and a proud validation of a decade’s worth of work.”

First Published: Oct 11 2024 | 12:49 AM IST