India, April 6 -- Inside Another Kult Meltdown

Kult is in the middle of a full-blown crisis once more. The beauty marketplace is at war with its primary backer, resulting in operations coming to a grinding halt and employees unpaid for months. So, how did the controversial beauty startup end up on the verge of a collapse?

The Kult Whirlpool: In April 2025, the startup announced a $20 Mn (Rs.185 Cr) Series A round led by the M3M Family Office to clear its previous liabilities and scale to over 10,000 daily orders. Instead, sources say only about Rs.50 Cr actually came in. The new infusion did not reset the business, but merely extended the runway for the governance problems to resurface.

Troubles Emerge: By December 2025, the cracks sta...