M3M India has responded to allegations of unpaid salaries at Kult, the tech-beauty platform into which it has invested millions last year. In a statement to HT.com, the company said it had backed the venture in good faith and was not involved in its day-to-day operations, placing responsibility for salaries and financial management on the founders and CEO.
Unpaid salaries at Kult
Earlier this week, several employees of Mumbai-headquartered Kult took to social media to allege that their salaries have not been paid for four months.
In an Instagram post shared on Kult’s official page — which has since been deleted — employees publicly appealed to CEO Karishma Singh and investor M3M to clear their pending dues.
(Also read: Kult employees plead with CEO to pay 4 months’ pending salaries: ‘We are suffering’)
Founded by Karishma Singh and Ruchika Pallavi, Kult positions itself as an AI-driven beauty platform offering personalised skincare recommendations. The startup had secured $20 million in Series A funding in April 2025, led by the M3M Family Office.
The now-deleted post also pointed to alleged tensions between the company’s leadership and its investors, claiming that CEO Karishma Singh and her husband Rahul Yadav had been attributing the delay in salary payments to M3M.
“This is a cry of help to Pankaj Bansal, Aishwarya Bansal and the management of M3M. Please pay our salaries: we are employees of Kult. Since December, our salaries have not been paid by Kult E-Comm,” read the post. “While CEO Karishma remains mum, Rahul Yadav urges us to put pressure on M3M who have total control of finances.”
M3M responds to allegations of controlling salaries
In an emailed statement to HT.com, M3M painted itself as a “victim” of financial mismanagement at Kult. The company pointed towards CEO Karishma Singh and her husband Rahul Yadav, founder of Housing.com, when it came to the question of delayed salaries.
Singh and Yadav, said M3M, were responsible for all matters related to payroll and management at the AI-powered beauty company.
“The day-to-day management, operations, and executive decision-making of Kult — including all matters relating to hiring, payroll, vendor payments, and financial management — have at all times been the responsibility of the Company’s founders and management team, Ms. Karishma Singh and Mr. Rahul Yadav,” said M3M.
Independent audit at Kult
M3M further said that it had invested significantly in Kult and was as such a victim of the “situation that has unfolded”. The Kult investor said an independent audit has been initiated to review the company’s finances and use of funds, with further action — including on pending employee dues — to be determined based on the findings.
Read the full statement below:
Blissfulabodes Realty Private Limited, part of the M3M group family office, invested in Kult E-Commerce Private Limited as a financial and governance investor. We committed and deployed capital in full and on schedule, in good faith and in reliance on the representations made by the founding team at the time of investment.
The day-to-day management, operations, and executive decision-making of Kult — including all matters relating to hiring, payroll, vendor payments, and financial management — have at all times been the responsibility of the Company’s founders and management team, Ms. Karishma Singh and Mr. Rahul Yadav.
We are as concerned as any other stakeholder by the reports of unpaid salaries. We want to be clear: M3M is itself a victim of the situation that has unfolded. We have deployed significant capital into this venture and, like the employees whose salaries are outstanding, we stand to lose if the Company is not put back on a sound footing. Our interests and the employees’ interests are aligned — not opposed.
It is precisely for this reason that we have taken immediate and decisive steps. An independent agency, Ashwath Partners, has been formally appointed to conduct a comprehensive review of the Company’s assets, financial position, and utilisation of invested funds. That review is currently underway. Its findings will determine the steps that follow, including any remedial action in respect of outstanding employee dues.
We are committed to accountability — including our own — and to ensuring that all stakeholders, particularly employees, are treated fairly. We will have no further comment on specific operational matters while the audit is in progress.
