E-commerce

Beauty and personal care (BPC) startup RENEE Cosmetics’ cofounder and CEO Ashutosh Valani told Inc42 that the brand cut its FY26 net loss by 46% to ₹36 Cr from ₹67 Cr incurred in the previous fiscal year. Valani said that the D2C beauty startup’s operating revenue for the fiscal jumped about 38% to ₹440 Cr from ₹320 Cr reported in the previous year. At the same time, its expenses grew 45% to ₹290 Cr from ₹200 Cr a year prior. The uptick in the startup’s top line helped it cut its EBITDA margin to -8% from -21% in FY25. The improvement in the brand’s margins was driven by notable improvement in its offline sales and repeat purchases. The CEO shared that RENEE’s focus on offline retail is crucial, as 84% of the BPC startup’s beauty sales happen via physical stores. This is because its customers prefer trying makeup products before purchasing them. Valani said that the startup focused on heavy offline expansion by investing in setting up presence in “shop-in-shop”, wholesale retail along with other modern trade outlets. In FY26, RENEE’s offline sales contributed about 35% of its revenue. Meanwhile, 35% of its revenue is still driven by online sales on marketplaces like Nykaa, Flipkart and Amazon. The remainder of its sales during the fiscal came from quick commerce (15%) and its own website (15%). “We are seeing strong offtake from offline stores due to a healthy demand and a strong brand pull. From here, we believe the business can grow another 40-50% in FY27,” he said. He expects the startup to turn profitable in FY27 as it scales the offline vertical further. He believes there is enough headroom to expand offline when compared with online expansion. The cofounder noted that the online business is already profitable, but because of the investments required for offline distribution, the startup’s expenses have remained elevated. “It takes about four to five years for a good digital brand to lay out the brand scale, foundation, and offline team. And now that we have done that successfully, I think from here on this is not going to act as a startup but a very profitable business,” he said.

Craft beer brand Bira 91’s parent company B9 Beverages has received a fresh legal notice from glass manufacturer Hindusthan National Glass & Industries Ltd (HNGIL), threatening civil and criminal action over allegedly unlifted bottle inventory. HNGIL claims that Bira 91 is yet to pay outstanding dues of ₹11.19 Cr. In the notice dated June 5, HNGIL alleged that more than 51.42 Lakh customised glass bottles manufactured exclusively for Bira 91 remain stored at its facilities despite repeated requests for payment and stock lifting. The company claimed the inventory is worth over ₹7 Cr. The glassmaker said it has sent the notice to B9 Beverages’ board and copied several investors, including Peak XV Partners, Sofina, BlackRock and Kirin Holdings. Inc42 has reached out to Bira 91 founder Ankur Jain as well as the startup for their response on the notice. The story will be updated based on the responses. As per the notice, the dispute relates to purchase orders placed by B9 Beverages in 2024 for customised glass bottles. HNGIL alleged that it manufactured the bottles during Bira 91’s corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP), which it said the latter hid while placing orders backed by bank guarantees. HNGIL further alleged that, despite encashing bank guarantees worth ₹3.91 Cr, significant dues continue to remain unpaid. The company claimed that the brewer repeatedly assured it that payments would be made and inventory would be lifted but failed to honour those commitments. HNGIL’s demand includes outstanding dues, interest, storage charges and mould charges, taking the total claim to ₹11.19 Cr. The company has asked B9 Beverages Ltd to clear the dues and provide a binding schedule for lifting the inventory within 15 days. The glassmaker said the unlifted stock has blocked warehouse space and working capital while adding storage and handling costs. It also warned that it would initiate legal proceedings if its demands are not met. The latest notice comes a month after HNGIL reportedly sought recovery of more than ₹8 Cr from the beer maker over alleged payment and contractual defaults. Troubles Pile Up For Bira 91 Bira 91 was launched in 2015 by Jain and emerged as one of India’s earliest craft beer brands. Backed by investors including Peak XV Partners, Sofina and Kirin Holdings, the startup had  raised more than $200 Mn over the years and expanded its presence across India and several international markets.  At its peak, Bira 91 positioned itself as a challenger to legacy beer brands through premium products, quirky branding and a strong focus on urban consumers. However, the company has faced mounting financial and operational challenges over the past two years. In 2025, Bira 91 disclosed that disruptions linked to a corporate name change — removing the private from its name to become a public company — led to licencing issues across states, forcing a temporary halt in manufacturing and sales operations.   The company also wrote off inventory worth about ₹80 Cr and delayed vendor payments for several months. Jain had earlier said the company’s total liabilities stood at around ₹300 Cr as of May 2025. The troubles have since deepened, with reports about delayed employee salaries, vendor disputes, investor disagreements and legal battles over company assets surfacing routinely.  Last year, Inc42 reported that investors and lenders were seeking greater control over parts of the business amid concerns around governance and financial management. It has been reported that the investors are pushing for the resignation of CEO Jain. Following financial distress and severe production hurdles, investors are said to have injected approximately ₹400 Cr to save the craft beer brand, which was conditioned on Jain’s exit. However, there’s no surety as to the fructification of the plans.

Amid a trail of top leadership exits, IPO-bound Cars24 has onboarded Infosys chief financial officer (CFO) Jayesh Sanghrajka as independent director of the used car marketplace’s board. To note, Sangharjka has been working with Cars24 in the capacity of an audit committee member since 2021. The ex-Rediff finance head joined Infosys in 2012 as a VP and corporate financial controller. Over his near 14 year tenure with the tech giant, he has headed mergers and acquisitions and handled stakeholder management as well as heading post merger integration of companies.  The appointment comes at a time when Cars24 is looking to make its public market in some time. In January, cofounder and CEO Vikram Chopra said the startup is looking to go public in the next six to twelve months.  Meanwhile, Cars24 is also currently seeing a major top-deck reshuffle. For instance, Cars24’s cofounder and COO Mehul Agarwal, cofounder and CMO Gajendra Jangid and India used car business CEO Himanshu Ratnoo have exited the startup.  On the financial front, the startup’s adjusted net revenue in H1 FY26 rose 18% YoY to ₹651 Cr. The improvement in the top line helped the startup trim its adjusted EBITDA loss by 36% YoY to ₹162 Cr, Chopra claimed in a social media post in January. The startup is yet to share a complete picture of its FY26 financial performance,    Meanwhile, Cars24 has been investing to strengthen its increased dependence on AI to sharpen its operations. The startup claims that AI has empowered it to reduce inspection timing, conduct audits at its retail hubs and handle 15 Lakh+ minutes of calls per month across 7 languages.