FirstCry's GlobalBees Brands sees three board members exit
According to sources, representatives from Chiratae Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Premji Invest are expected to step down from GlobalBees' board.
Three investor board members of GlobalBees, a FirstCry venture, resigned just weeks after CEO Nitin Agarwal stepped down, multiple people aware of the matter told YourStory.
Sudhir Kumar Sethi from Chiratae Ventures, Harsha Kumar from Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Atul Gupta from Premji Invest have stepped down from the company’s board, the people said, requesting anonymity.
In July 2021, Kumar and Sethi joined GlobalBees’ board after participating in its $150 million Series A funding round led by FirstCry.
“Premji and Chiratae are shareholders of FirstCry, and they continue to be part of FirstCry. Their exit is to comply with UPSI rules,” said a person aware of the matter.
SEBI’s Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI) rules aim to curb insider trading by restricting those with access to confidential information from trading a company’s securities until the information is publicly disclosed and its impact is reflected in the market price.
GlobalBees, FirstCry, Lightspeed, and Premji Invest did not immediately respond to queries shared by YourStory. Questions sent to Supam Maheshwari, Co-founder of FirstCry, who also sits on the board of GlobalBees, didn’t elicit an immediate response. Meanwhile, Chiratae Ventures declined to comment.
Almost two weeks ago, Globalbees' CEO and Director Agarwal tendered his resignation from the Thrasio-style direct-to-consumer (D2C) company, citing “personal reasons.” Earlier in March, GlobalBees's Chief Business Officer, Damandeep Soni, also left the company to pursue opportunities at AstroTalk.
Post Agarwal's departure, Anuj Jain, previously Chief Business Officer of FirstCry's pre-school segment and SVP of Marketing, is leading the global brand.
GlobalBees Brands—founded by FirstCry founder Maheshwari and Agarwal in 2021, with an initial corpus of $75 million—operates brands across sectors like beauty and personal care, accessories, and gym equipment, including Joker and Witch, Haironic, and Strauss, among others.
Just a month ago, FirstCry approved the infusion of Rs 146 crore into GlobalBees, expecting to close the investment in tranches over 12 months. The company clocked a consolidated turnover of Rs 1,209.35 crore in FY23.
Edited by Suman Singh
