Faering Capital leads funding in beauty products e-tailer Plum

By Joseph Rai

  • 26 Nov 2020
Credit: Pixabay

Pureplay Skin Sciences (India) Pvt. Ltd, which sells beauty and skincare products under the brand Plum, on Thursday said it has raised Rs 110 crore (around $15 million) in its Series B funding round.

The investment was led by mid-market private equity firm Faering Capital, said Plum in a statement. Sameer Shroff, co-founder and managing director at Faering Capital, will join the board of the company.

Venture debt firm Trifecta Capital and existing investor Unilever Ventures also participated in this funding round, it added.

Shankar Prasad, CEO and founder of Plum, said the fresh capital will help the company to expand its product range and market presence.

Plum, which was launched in 2014 by Prasad, started off as an online-only beauty brand. The company later took the omnichannel route even as online still accounts for more than two-thirds of its topline, it said.

The company's portfolio comprises skin care, hair care, body care and makeup products. It said it has experienced a 2.5 times growth year-on-year and expects to clock an annual revenue run-rate of Rs 200 crore by March 2021. 

Plum said its growth also got a push from male grooming brand Phy and recently-launched body care brand Plum BodyLovin'.

Plum currently has a presence in more than 200 cities at over 6,000 retail outlets, and has over 80 stock keeping units (SKUs).

Faering's Shroff said that rapid digital adoption across India is fuelling the growth of sharply focused online brands.

Prior to this funding, Plum had raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding in December 2018 from Unilever Ventures, the venture capital arm of consumer goods giant Unilever.

The broader beauty and personal-care segment has attracted a slew of investors over the past few years.

Earlier this week, Purplle.com raised $1 million (Rs 7.4 crore) in funding from Spring Marketing Capital. The company had previously raised $30 million in a Series C round of funding led by global investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Last week, VCCircle reported that venture capital firm and growth equity investor Sequoia Capital had made an early-stage investment in a skincare brand.

In September, personal care brand mCaffeine raised $5.7 million in its Series B round of funding led by homegrown mid-market private equity firm Amicus Capital.

Beauty products e-tailer Nykaa raised capital from existing investor Sunil Kant Munjal, one of the promoters of Hero Group, and Steadview Capital earlier this year. Its other investors include TVS Capital, Lighthouse Funds and TPG.