[Update] Exclusive: Online Beauty Startup Purplle Bags $75 Mn Led By Kedaara Capital

Update| 29th October, 5:00 PM IST

After Inc42 exclusively reported on Purplle raising its series D round led by new investor Kedaara Capital on October 28, the company today officially announced the investment. The startup has raised a total of $75 Mn led by Kedaara Capital along with Sequoia Capital India, Blume Ventures.

Earlier Story| Published On October 28th

Mumbai-based Purplle, an ecommerce for beauty products in the country, is raising INR 425.26 Cr (~$56.6 Mn) in a new round of investment from Kedaara Capital and its existing investors Sequoia Capital and Blume Ventures.

The new round of investment will be led by Kedaara Capital, which will be pumping in $49 Mn for Series D compulsory convertible preference shares. 

The round comes almost seven months after the startup bagged $45 Mn from Sequoia Capital India, Verlinvest, Blume Ventures and JSW Ventures in its Series D round. Back then one of Purplle’s early investors – IvyCap had exited the company and received a 22X  return or INR 330 Cr exit. 

With the current round of investment, the startup is likely to be valued somewhere between $450 Mn to $500 Mn. The startup was valued at around $300 Mn when it closed its Series D round. 

Founded by Manish Taneja and Rahul Dash in 2011, Purplle is an ecommerce platform that offers beauty products, appliances and cosmetics. Purplle also runs its private label called StayQuirky, which accounts for a major chunk of its sale, as per the company. 

In 2019, the startup had raised $30 Mn in its Series C round led by Goldman Sachs. It raised its Series B round worth $6 Mn in 2016. 

The startup competes against IPO-Bound Nykaa, SUGAR Cosmetics, Plum, Mamaearth, among others. 

It is worth noting, most of these startups have received big cheques this year. While SUGAR Cosmetics bagged $21 Mn in its Series C round in February, Mamaearth closed $50 Mn in a fresh round in July. In April this year, WoW raised $50 Mn from ChrysCapital.  

Nykaa, a fashion ecommerce platform, which is going for an IPO today (October 28) at price band of INR 1,085 – INR 1,125, earlier this month, acquired a Kolkata-based D2C skincare brand – Dot & Key to increase its portfolio of owned brands.

Unlike the 2000s and early 2010s, Indian consumers now have several cosmetics brands to choose from. Gone are the days when international brands such as Garnier, Lakme, Maybelline, among others dominated the Indian market. The market has been taken over by dozens of D2C brands who have managed to attract a significant chunk of Indian consumers who used to rely on foreign brands earlier.

A wide range of products, aggressive pricing, and chemical-free products are a few of the reasons which helped these Indian brands triumph over the rest.

According to a Statista report, the Indian skincare market generated revenue worth $7.2 Bn in 2021 and is expected to grow at 5.62% CAGR between 2021 – 2025. 

Update| October 29; 5:00 PM IST
The story has been updated with official announcement

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