Five senior executives at Nykaa resign, firm says 'mid-level exits a part of standard annual appraisal'

Five executives at Nykaa have resigned, the latest departures at the beauty platform amid intensifying competition and a falling stock price, a few months after its CFO had quit. The exits come at a time when Reliance Retail is all set to launch its e-commerce beauty platform Tira, as well as open its offline stores soon.

Nykaa said it sees some of these "mid-level exits as a part of the standard annual appraisal and transition process".

"Voluntary and involuntary exits are expected in a fast-paced, growth-focused, consumer tech organisation with over 3000 on-roll employees, like Nykaa. Over the years, Nykaa has acted as an incubator to bring together and support some of the most promising talent India has to offer. We see some of these mid-level exits as a part of the standard annual appraisal and transition process, wherein, people exit due to performance or to pursue other opportunities. Nykaa values the contributions of all its current and former employees and stays connected through a strong employee alumni network," said Nykaa in a statement.

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Among the exits are Chief Commercial Operations Officer Manoj Gandhi, Chief Business Officer of fashion division Gopal Asthana, and Chief Executive Officer of wholesale business Vikas Gupta - all executives of Nykaa.

Shuchi Pandya, a vice president of Nykaa fashion division's Owned Brands business, and Lalit Pruthi, a vice president of finance at the fashion unit, have also resigned.

A Nykaa spokesperson told Reuters it sees "some of these mid-level exits as a part of the standard annual appraisal and transition process, wherein, people exit due to performance or to pursue other opportunities".

"Voluntary and involuntary exits are expected in a fast-paced, growth-focused, consumer tech organisation with over 3,000 on-roll employees," the company said in response to queries from Reuters on the executives' departures.

Gandhi, Asthana and Gupta declined to comment, while the other two executives did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Nykaa competes with Tata Group and Reliance, both of which have interests in the beauty sector, as all companies compete for a share of the fast-growing $16 billion beauty and personal care market in the world's second-most populous country.

Nykaa, whose parent is FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd, had surged 96% in a blockbuster market debut in 2021, fetching a near-$14 billion valuation. But its stock has plunged amid a broader rout in startups, falling around 68% from the all-time high in November 2021.

With inputs from Reuters