[Funding alert] Online furniture startup Pepperfry raises $40M in Series F round

Mumbai-based online home furniture marketplace Pepperfry has raised $40 million in Series F funding led by Indian adhesives manufacturing company Pidilite Industries.

In March 2018, it had secured Rs 250 crore ($37 million approximately) as part of its Series E round from State Street Global Advisors, the asset management business of State Street Corporation.

In September 2016, it had also received $30 million in a Series E round from Goldman Sachs and Bertelsmann Investments.

Apart from these, the company had closed its Series D, C, B and A round at $100 million, $15 million, $8 million, and $5 million, respectively. 

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Co-founded by former eBay employees - Ambareesh Murty and Ashish Shah in 2012 - Pepperfry started as a horizontal online marketplace focussing on fashion and lifestyle. Today, it is one of the leading online furniture startups in India, and has a reported annual revenue of Rs 207 crore, a 47 percent rise in FY19, as compared to Rs 140.60 crore in FY18.

The online furniture startup's losses widened 72 percent in FY19 to Rs 183 crore compared to last year. Its total expense in the financial year was reported to be at Rs 390 crore, of which 43.7 percent was spent on advertising.

Pepperfry, which is owned and operated by Trendsutra Platform Services Private Limited, currently works with over 10,000 sellers, out of which 3,500 sellers get orders every month. 

In an earlier conversation with YourStory, founders Ambareesh and Ashish said that southern India accounts for up to 45 percent of Pepperfry's sales, with Bengaluru contributing about 30 percent. Mumbai and Delhi-NCR stand at 20 and 24 percent, respectively, and the rest of its orders come from the east.

Today, Pepperfry claims to be the largest B2C distribution company in the country, with 1.2 lakh products and over 120 lakh monthly visits on its platform. With more than 60 lakh registered users, the company also claims to have 67 studios, including both owned and franchise, across 25 cities in India including Bengaluru, Gurugram, New Delhi, Pune, Noida, Mysore, and Chandigarh, among others.

The company, which has raised over $237.5 million in total so far, is now reportedly looking to go public in the next 12-18 months.

(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)