Crisis At Kult: Unpaid Employees, Missing Funds, And Blurred Chain Of Command

Nearly 100 Kult employees have alleged months of unpaid dues, forcing many to struggle with basic expenses, while a few senior staffers were reportedly still paid

A widely publicised $20 Mn round appears to have translated into a much smaller capital infusion, exposing a mismatch between narrative and liquidity

Kult’s financials also reveal a business model under significant strain as the company reported a top line of mere ₹27.5 Lakh against a loss of ₹ 3.2 Cr in FY25

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It was May 2025 when we last came across Kult, and the company’s narrative of starting afresh after leaving hundreds of employees unpaid looked like a game of smoke and mirrors. Indeed, we called it exactly that at the time.  

But if we are talking games, the story of Kult is now looking like a real-life Whac-A-Mole. Most of us have played this at some point in our lives, and most of us end up leaving the table frustrated. This is exactly what employees at Kult feel now, eleven months after that first swansong for Kult. 

Close to 100 employees at the beauty marketplaces have not been paid for months; some of them since November 2025. Similarly, brands and vendors have not been paid for selling their beauty products and services. Some of these business losses may have further led to pay or job impact. 

Many of them have now come out in the open with a stream of allegations, and to our ears, this chorus sounds familiar. 

Central to the game are the husband-wife duo of Rahul Yadav and Karishma Singh. Yadav’s chequered history as an entrepreneur is well documented by........

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