Good Glamm Group has wrapped up the acquisition of Sirona Hygiene in an all-cash deal for Rs 450 crore. The deal stands as one of the biggest cash exits for a D2C startup in the FemTech domain in India.
The co-founders of Sirona, Deep Bajaj and Mohit Bajaj, who had been guiding the company as active directors until recently, had quit, another step marking the beginning of a new turn in its journey.
Darpan Sanghvi, founder and CEO of Good Glamm Group, said the founders of Sirona have placed their trust in the group’s vision as a pivotal element toward the successful acquisition. “We share a common goal of empowering women through innovative and accessible health solutions,” Sanghvi stated.
Value over Rs 450 crore reflects the market’s confidence in Sirona’s pioneering approach. It has also benefited employees of Sirona by accelerating employee stock ownership plans—and, thus, allowing them to reap early monetary benefits.
Founded in 2014-15, Sirona has produced a wide array of products designed for women at all stages of their lives, from puberty to menopause. Some of its more innovative products include PeeBuddy, a stand-and-pee device for women, herbal period pain patches, a range of comprehensive menstrual cups, period stain removers, creams for anti-chafing rashes, and sanitary disposal bags.
As Deep Bajaj looks back at the contribution that their products have made, “From PeeBuddy, now used by over 3 million women, to Sirona menstrual cups, used by 4 million as an alternative to pads, we have created India’s highest selling D2C feminine hygiene brand. And though it has not been without its set of challenges—fundraising woes and societal taboos being a few—he says this acquisition is “validation of all our efforts and hard work.”
In 2022, Good Glamm Group had invested Rs 100 crore in Sirona through primary and secondary investments, seeing returns of 6x to 20x for early angel and seed investors. For the past two years, the company has tripled its revenues. The company’s philanthropic arm, Sirona Foundation, has also made massive strides by educating more than 100,000 girls on menstrual hygiene and giving away more than 10,000 menstrual cups to women across the country.
Sirona has also sought to bring technology into its products. It recently launched India’s first WhatsApp period tracker and has managed to develop an energetic online community through its app. The company has also taken several steps forward to make feminine hygiene products more accessible by installing vending pods at Delhi airport. It furthered its portfolio in women’s products with the acquisition of IMpower—the first women’s safety pepper spray brand in India and BLEU India’s first vegan condom brand.
On reflection about the journey, Mohit Bajaj said, “It’s both proud and bittersweet. Building Sirona wasn’t easy; there were moments of struggle, doubt, and hardship. Yet, our unwavering belief in our mission and the support of our allies kept us going.” He went on to add that the deal was a proud validation of their decade-long efforts.
