Gifting platform Ferns N Petals Bags INR 200 Cr in Funding to Boost Ecommerce Play
- ByStartupStory | March 12, 2022
Gifting platform, Ferns N Petals (FNP) raised about INR 200 Cr in funding from a private equity firm, Lighthouse. The funding will be used by the company in order to invest in technology to boost its ecommerce play.
Ferns N Petals, a pioneer in the gifting segment, was founded by Gutgutia in 1994. The company started with a single store and in India it was the first to adopt the ecommerce model in 2002.
The company has around 400 outlets in over 125 cities across India. UAE, Singapore and Qatar Doha are countries where the firm also has an international presence. In the near future, it has also planned to expand in countries like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, the UK and Russia.
In this financial year itself, the company aims to open 70 new stores,adding on in the next three years, it also plans to have over 1,000 outlets. The net sales of nearly INR 500 Cr in FY21 despite COVID pummeling supply chain and the gifting economy has been claimed to be generated by FNP.
The company, in a bid to minimise the fallout of the pandemic, has opted for innovative offers and aggressive scale-up plans to woo customers. A slew of digital gifting options during the lockdown such as a musician on call, digital caricatures, celebrity video messages and more has been launched by FNP.
The baby care space with the launch of its BabyBless platform has also been ventured by the company. From other major market players which include IGP, Archies’, among others, a stiff competition has been faced by Ferns N Petals.
A report states that about $119 Mn was pegged by India’s gifting industry in 2019 and is expected to soar to $159 Mn by 2025. In early 2021 the online gifting market in the country was estimated to be around $65 Mn and by 2024 it is expected to soar to $84 Bn.
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