SUMMARY
Purplle’s previous investors include Blume Ventures, IvyCap Ventures and JSW Ventures
The company has raised $6 Mn in series B round of funding closed in 2016
The company had raised $2.57 Mn in a funding round last year
Online cosmetics and beauty products retailer Purplle is reportedly in talks to raise around $42 Mn (INR 300 Cr) in Series C funding round led by Goldman Sachs. The company’s existing investors Blume Ventures, IvyCap Ventures and investment arm of JSW Group, called JSW Ventures, will also be investing in this funding round.
An email query sent to Purplle didn’t elicit any response till the time of publication.
Founded by Manish Taneja and Rahul Dash in 2011, Purplle is an ecommerce platform that offers beauty products, appliances and cosmetics. It also runs its own private label called StayQuirky. The company claimed the private brand accounts for a major chunk of its sale. As per 2018 reports, 47% of all nail paints sold on the platform belonged to StayQuirky.
Purplle has already on-boarded 650 brands, extending its catalogue to more than 50K products. The company has also tied up with international brands such as Maybelline, Revlon, etc.
Last year, the company had raised $2.57 Mn in a funding round with participation from Luxasia Group Patrick Chong Fook Seng and JSW Ventures. In Purplle’s Series B funding round, closed in 2016, the company had raised $6 Mn.
The Beauty And Personal Care Products Market
Purplle’s main competitors in the Indian market include Nykaa, NewU and Lusso Liv. Last year, Amazon India expressed its plan to enter the beauty and wellness market by launching its own private label of beauty and personal care products. Myntra too decided to run the race with offline stores.
In a report of December 2016, FICCI estimated the Indian wellness industry to grow with CAGR of 12% to achieve a $23.4 Bn turnover. Another report claimed that the Indian beauty industry is looking towards a market value of $12.4 Bn (INR 80,000 Cr) by 2017-2018, registering a growth rate of 15% to 20%.
Earlier in April, Nykaa had raised $14 Mn (INR 100 Cr) funding from an American private equity firm TPG Growth, raising the company’s total funding amount to $93.02 Mn.
