Online beauty products marketplace Purplle, operated by Mumbai-based Manash Lifestyle Pvt Ltd, has turned unicorn after raising $33 million (Rs 256 crore) in a fresh round of funding led by South Korean investment firm Paramark Ventures.
The company’s existing backers Premji Invest, Blume Ventures, and Kedaara Capital also participated in this round, it said in a statement.
Unicorns are startups which has a valuation of over $1 billion.
Purplle is said to have secured $215 million in funding till date and is currently valued at $1.1 billion (Rs 8,554 crore).
“The infusion is an opportunity to further our mission of building the beauty industry in India with technological investments, scaling of our private brands, and industry-first innovations,” said Manish Taneja, Co-Founder and CEO at Purplle.com.
In January this year, the brand had raised a little over $34 million (Rs 257.43 crore) as a part of its Series D1 funding round at a valuation of more than $700 million, led by Faces Investment Holdings, an affiliate of Sequoia Capital
“Purplle is addressing the enormous vacuum in the beauty and personal care industry in India in a way that the rising demand from massive Indian consumers can be best served beyond the limited set of customers in a few major cities,” said Chunsoo Kim, Founder and Managing Partner of Paramark Ventures.
The marketplace boasts of over 60,000 products across over 1,000 brands, and 5 private DTC brands. With 7 million monthly active users, Purplle has scaled its annualized GMV to $180 million in FY 2022.
Purplle had raised $75 million in a funding round in October 2021 led by homegrown private equity firm Kedaara Capital and joined by Sequoia Capital and Blume Ventures. The following month, the startup raised another $65 million as a part of its Series D funding round from Premji Invest.
Fundraising activity in the broader beauty and personal care segment has surged over the last few months.
India has been witnessing the rise of direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands across categories and is estimated to have a $100 billion addressable market by 2025, according to an October 2021 note by Avendus.
In May, Sugar Cosmetics, operated by Vellvette Lifestyle Pvt Ltd, has secured Series D funding of $50 million (Rs 388 crore) led by US-based private equity fund L Catterton.
Earlier same month, Skincare and wellness brand Wow Skin Science has raised a round of primary capital from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.
In March, personal care brand Plum raised $35 million (Rs 270 crore) as a part of its Series C funding led by growth stage investor A91 Partners.
