Sugar Cosmetics Cut Its Loss 41% in FY26 on ₹361 Crore of Revenue

Sugar Brands, the parent of Sugar Cosmetics, cut its FY26 net loss by 41 percent to ₹79.3 crore while revenue from operations fell 10.7 percent to ₹361 crore, Entrackr reported on Nov. 7. The numbers are for the year ended March 2026, six months before the company took fresh money at a much lower price.

That price is the more telling figure. Inc42 reported on Sept. 4 that A91 Partners, through its A91 Emerging Fund III, subscribed to about ₹144.47 crore of Series D7 compulsorily convertible preference shares, a security that converts to equity on a listing. Inc42 read the figure from filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and the company's board passed the resolution on Sept. 1. Inc42 asked Sugar for comment and had not received a reply when it published.

What the valuation implies

Inc42 calculated a post-money valuation of ₹550 crore to ₹600 crore ($58 million to $64 million). The company has not published a valuation, so that is Inc42's arithmetic from the share price in the filing. The previous round, in November 2024, valued Sugar at ₹2,600 crore to ₹2,700 crore, and the peak was about ₹3,000 crore in 2022.

Period	Valuation	Trailing revenue	Implied multiple
Nov. 2024 round	₹2,600 to ₹2,700 crore	₹404.4 crore (FY25)	about 6.4 to 6.7
Sept. 2026 round	₹550 to ₹600 crore	₹361 crore (FY26)	about 1.5 to 1.7

The multiples are The Terminal's calculation from the two sources, dividing each valuation by the nearest full-year revenue. Revenue in FY25 had already fallen about 20 percent from ₹505.1 crore, and the net loss that year nearly doubled to ₹135 crore, according to Inc42. A registered valuer, Sayali Deshkar, wrote in a report dated June 30, 2026: "The company has demonstrated a sustained and worsening pattern of financial deterioration over the past two financial years."

Where the FY26 savings came from

Total expenses fell 18.9 percent to ₹443 crore from ₹546.5 crore. Advertising and sales promotion, the largest line, dropped 28.9 percent to ₹119.4 crore from ₹168 crore. Employee benefits fell 21.2 percent to ₹58.7 crore and finance costs fell 34.8 percent to ₹5.6 crore, per Entrackr.

Entrackr gives an EBITDA margin of minus 20.02 percent, improved from minus 30.56 percent, and return on capital employed of minus 129.51 percent. Expenses per rupee of operating revenue were ₹1.23, down from ₹1.35, so the business still spent more than it earned on every rupee sold.

Inc42 cited an Economic Times report that Sugar closed 30 to 40 percent of the physical stores it had opened because individual stores lost money. Entrackr does not break out store costs, so the sources do not say how much of the FY26 cut came from closures.

What the new money covers

The ₹144.47 crore is about 1.8 times the FY26 net loss, again a calculation from the two sources. Net loss is not cash burn, and neither source gives an operating cash flow figure. The balance sheet is the sharper warning: cash and bank balances were ₹10.30 crore at the end of March, down from ₹23 crore, according to Entrackr, less than the ₹58.7 crore it spent on employees over the year. The September round is the only cash event the sources report after that date.

Inc42 does not report a use of funds. It lists Elevation Capital, A91 Partners, Anicut Capital and IndiaQuotient among earlier investors, about $90 million raised in total, and founders Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee, who started the company in 2015. Entrackr says the company's valuation is reportedly about 80 percent below its peak and does not name the investors in the latest round.

The comparison Entrackr draws is with Renee Cosmetics, whose operating revenue rose 37 percent to ₹440 crore in FY26 while its losses fell 45 percent. A brand with ₹361 crore of revenue and a minus 20 percent EBITDA margin now has to show it can grow again at the lower cost base.

Sugar is private and publishes no quarterly figures, so the next hard number will be its FY27 accounts, which Entrackr published for FY26 on Nov. 7. For other Indian rounds priced off falling revenue, see The Terminal's pieces on MakeMyTrip's Quick Ride acquisition and on Nvidia's share of $100 million rounds.