Indian omnichannel beauty platform Purplle has now secured ₹1,500 crore (approximately $180 million), closing its latest funding round in the process. The Series F funding round was led by a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and included the participation of existing investors Premji Invest and Blume Ventures, and new ones such as Sharrp Ventures.
This additional ₹500 crore adds to a capital influx the company secured earlier in July – at that time, the firm nabbed ₹1,000 crore (around $120 million) from the same ADIA subsidiary. With the latest bout of funding, the valuation of the startup now falls in the $1.2-1.3 billion range. Purplle also entered the unicorn club two years ago – in June 2022 – after it secured $33 million in its Series E round from its investors, which set its valuation at $1.1 billion. This round of funding comes at a time when the domestic beauty and personal care sector has been growing steadily, and securing significant amounts of capital. In fact, data from Venture Intelligence indicates that beauty startups in India have collectively raised $259 million from private equity and venture capital firms as of August 2024.
The proceeds from the latest round of funding will be deployed towards enhancing its tech capabilities and improve how consumers discover and purchase beauty products and services. “As we continue to innovate and leverage our technology and data capabilities to deliver the best omnichannel experience to our customers, this latest round of investments reaffirms the importance of our vision to make every Indian feel beautiful,” Manish Taneja, co-founder and CEO of Purplle, commented on the matter.
“Our strategic involvement with Purplle is focused on reinforcing our philosophy of backing new age platforms with a commitment to customer centricity. Through the application of data-driven insights and the expansion into underserved markets, we seek to support the company in delivering personalized and accessible beauty solutions tailored to the diverse needs of consumers across India,” Rishabh Mariwala from Sharrp Ventures said. “Our business model focuses on building strategic partnerships with a common purpose, and this investment is a testament to Sharrp’s ability to identify and invest in market leaders with aligned goals who will benefit from shared success.”
Purplle has grown into a major firm, coming a long way from the early days of its inception 12 years ago by Tuneja, Rahul Dash, and Suyash Katyayani. Today, it is a multi-brand beauty retailer, operating both a marketplace for various beauty products and its own private label brands. This includes the likes of popular names such as Faces Canada, Good Vibes, and DermDoc, and products across categories such as cosmetics, fragrances, skin, and hair care products. It has a strong online presence as well, reaching over 10 million consumers monthly and establishing nearly 20,000 offline touchpoints across the country, including having clientele in Tier II and III cities.
In the fiscal year ending March, the firm saw its revenue clock an annual growth of 43% to ₹680 crore (as compared to ₹475 crore in FY23). It also successfully narrowed its losses by 46%, reducing them to ₹124 crore for the same period.
