JSW Fund I Sells Purplle Stake To Manipal Group

JSW Ventures has divested its stakes in the beauty ecommerce marketplace Purplle through a sale to the Manipal Education and Medical Group Family Office (MEMG).

Through this transaction, JSW Ventures has completely divested its stake in Purplle from Fund I, delivering a 2.7X return on investment to its investors thus far on total fund size, as per an official statement.

“With their vision and dedication, the Purplle team has created a digital ecosystem that revolutionises how Indian consumers discover and experience beauty products. We are excited to be part of Purplle’s journey as they scale up,” Ranjan Pai, chairman of the Manipal Group, said.

Sachin Tagra, managing partner at JSW Ventures said, Purplle was one of the earliest investments as a fund in 2016 and it has delivered a 57% Internal Rate of Return (IRR). JSW Ventures continues to stay invested in Purplle from its second fund.

This marks the second instance of JSW Ventures divesting its holdings in Purplle within six months.

Earlier in May, JSW Ventures sold a portion of its stake to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), reaping substantial returns at 18 times of its initial investment.

During the transaction, Purplle raised $50 Mn – $60 Mn in funding from the sovereign fund, which was a mix of primary and secondary investment.

Founded in 2012 by Manish Taneja and Rahul Dash, Purplle offers beauty-oriented products and appliances. It hosts several D2C brands on its platform including Plum, WOW Skin Science, mCaffeine, Maybelline and SUGAR Cosmetics, among others. Purplle, competes with listed beauty ecommerce startup Nykaa, Reliance-led Tira, among others.

In FY22, Purplle saw its revenue from operations grow INR 219.88 Cr, up 72% from INR 128.15 Cr a year earlier, its regulatory filings show. Its loss widened to INR 203.63 Cr in FY22 from INR 52.18 Cr in the previous year.

Meanwhile, Pai is emerging as a prominent investor in Indian startups. Reports in August suggested he was in talks to acquire a share in the IPO-bound children-focused ecommerce giant FirstCry. Furthermore, he has made strategic investments in notable startups, such as edtech platform BYJU’S and the jewelry startup BlueStone.

Update | 30th October, 15:00

The story has been updated to clarify the returns reported by JSW.

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