Online beauty retailer Purplle becomes unicorn after raising $33 million in funding
- ByStartupStory | June 9, 2022
Purplle, an online retailer of beauty and personal care items, has secured $33 million from Paramark Ventures, valuing the company at $1.1 billion. This is the second Indian digital business to reach the unicorn club this week, following online education startup Physics Wallah, despite a worldwide startup financing drought. The round included existing investors Premji Invest, Blume Ventures, and Kedaara Capital. So far, the business has funded a total of $215 million, including this round. Goldman Sachs and Verlinvest were among their early investors.
The startup was founded by Manish Taneja and Rahul Dash in 2012 and competes with larger rival Nykaa, boasts over 1,000 brands on its marketplace, including five private labels, and seven million monthly active users. Purplle’s annualised gross merchandise value was $180 million in FY 2022, according to the company. It employs 2,400 people. Purplle bought Faces Canada, a cosmetics and skincare company, last year.
The business is considering a number of further tuck-in acquisitions and will use the proceeds to fuel its inorganic expansion goals. Manish Taneja, the co-founder and CEO of Purplle said that the injection offers a chance to pursue the company’s aim of growing the beauty sector in India through technical investments, scaling of its private brands, and industry-first innovations.
Startups like The Good Glamm Group, Sugar Cosmetics, and Mamaearth have raised significant funding in the internet beauty business, which has previously been controlled by major international firms. Sugar Cosmetics has received $50 million in a round-headed by L Catterton.
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