Clensta CEO denies writing financial mismanagement post, claims LinkedIn page hack

Puneet Gupta, Founder and CEO of personal care startup Clensta has said that the company's LinkedIn page was compromised after a post was published of the founder admitting to alleged financial mismanagement.

The post, which appeared on October 14, 2024, reportedly detailed alleged financial issues, including unpaid salaries, inflated profit and loss statements, and mismanagement of cash flow. It included an apology from Gupta to employees and investors, admitting to poor handling of the company’s finances.

"To the employees from Honasa, I offer you my deepest apology. I was dishonest with you about Clensta’s financial health to convince you to join the company. You trusted me, and I betrayed that trust by misleading you. You left stable jobs, believing in the vision I sold, and now I’ve let you down. My actions have resulted in financial instability for you and your families, and for that, I am deeply sorry," a part of the post read.

An hour later, Gupta posted on LinkedIn claiming the original message was false and posted without his knowledge. He suggested that a team member with access to the company's LinkedIn credentials was responsible for the unauthorised post.

In this follow-up, Gupta said, “Dear all, this is a serious offence somebody have done. One of our own team member, I believe, who holds our LinkedIn credentials, have written a false information. And we’ve just gone ahead to file a FIR. (sic)”

This incident comes amid reports that Clensta, backed by actress Parineeti Chopra, is in advanced talks to raise $10 million in a Series B funding round, with Amazon expected to participate as a new investor. Clensta is yet to release an official statement clarifying the situation.

Moneycontrol was the first to report on this development.

Clensta is focused on producing personal care products that utilise waterless technology to address hygiene needs while conserving water. Founded in February 2016 by Puneet Gupta and Ashish Mishra, the company is based in Gurugram and operates from the Biotechnology Business Incubation Facility at IIT Delhi.

Clensta has garnered attention from notable investors, including Parineeti Chopra, who is both an investor and brand ambassador.