SUGAR Cosmetics raises $15.3M in down round, valuation cut nearly 80%
What's the deal? SUGAR Cosmetics has raised US$19.6M in a Series D round led by A91 PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, through its A91 Emerging Fund III. The Mumbai-based beauty and personal care brand allotted 112,000 Series D7 compulsorily convertible preference shares at US$174.8 each, per filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
Why the cut? The round values SUGAR at roughly US$74.7M–US$81.5M — a 75-80% drop from the US$353.1M-US$366.7M valuation it commanded in November 2024. That is far below its 2022 peak of about US$407.4M.
By the numbers: SUGAR's operating revenue fell about 20% year on year to US$54.9M in FY25, while net loss nearly doubled to US$18.3M from US$9.29M. EBITDA losses more than doubled to US$15.8M.
A valuation report attached to the filings cited "a sustained and worsening pattern of financial deterioration over the past two financial years." Much of the damage came from aggressive offline expansion; SUGAR shut 30-40% of the physical stores it opened after per-store losses, according to an ET report.
What SUGAR does: Founded in 2015 by Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee, it sells beauty and personal care products through its website, physical stores, and e-commerce platforms. It runs four brands — SUGAR, POPDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, ENN, and Quench BotanicsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — and competes with Nykaa, Mamaearth, and Renee Cosmetics. It has raised $90 million to date from backers including Elevation CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, A91 Partners, Anicut CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and IndiaQuotient.
The signal: The down round lands in one of India's most heavily funded consumer segments — beauty and personal care drew more than $1.1 billion across 201 deals between 2015 and Q1 FY26. SUGAR's markdown shows how quickly capital and confidence tighten when a direct-to-consumer brand's economics slip, even as backers keep writing cheques on sharply reset terms.
Read more: inc42.com
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