Pepperfry.com raises $15 million from Bertelsmann India Investments & NVP India
Furniture and home products marketplace Pepperfry.com has raised $15 Million in a fresh round of funding led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), the strategic investment arm of the international media company Bertelsmann in India. Pepperfry’s current investors, Silicon Valley based Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) also participated in this round. Pepperfry had earlier raised USD 13 Million from NVP in previous rounds of funding.
Pepperfry started in September 2011 with a on the lifestyle space, selling shoes, apparel, furniture, home décor, jewellery, healthcare products and so on. But a year later based on purchase behavior analysis switched to selling furniture and home decor space. The site works with merchants across the country to fulfill orders. In an earlier conversation with YourStory, Ambareesh Murty, founder and CEO of Pepperfry.com had pegged the furniture & home category to be a $24 billion market. Pepperfry is one of the leading players in the space.
On the funding Ambareesh said, “We are well positioned to become a household name in the country and partnering with a global powerhouse like Bertelsmann along with the continued support of NVP will ensure Pepperfry becomes India’s most preferred Furniture and Home products destination.”
Pankaj Makkar, MD of Bertelsmann India Investments will join the board of Pepperfry.com with this investment. He said, “We are very impressed with the strong business foundations on which Pepperfry.com has been built and the leadership position it has attained, especially in the furniture segment. Our thesis is that vertically focused companies like Pepperfry who have built specialized capabilities and a differentiated market offering will serve consumers’ needs for selection and overall experience better.”
On its continued partnership with Pepperfry, Niren Shah, MD, Norwest Venture Partners India, “Pepperfry.com has a strong team with extensive e-commerce and marketplace expertise combined with great execution abilities. In the last 2 years, the team has revolutionized customers’ access to affordable high quality furniture and home products by connecting buyers in metro and Tier 2 cities to small businesses and manufacturers located in India’s remote furniture hubs.”
Pepperfry had raised US$ 8 million from NVP last year, before it went for a revamp and change in strategy.