[Funding alert] Purplle closes Rs 555 Cr round led by Kedaara; crosses Rs 4,660 Cr valuation

Purplle, an ecommerce platform for beauty products, on Friday said it has raised around Rs 555 crore ($75 million) in a funding round led by private equity fund Kedaara at an enterprise valuation of Rs 4,662 crore ($630 million).

The company will use the fund to grow six to eight times in the next five years through both organic and inorganic business developments, Purplle.com Co-founder and CEO Manish Taneja told PTI.

Existing investors Sequoia Capital and Blume Ventures also participated in the funding round.

"We are at a GMV (gross merchandise value) run rate of Rs 1,200 crore. We want to keep growing at close to 70-80 percent year-on-year in the next foreseeable future. We will invest in the growth.

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"We will invest in the people and at the same time build processes and systems and try to build Purplle as an institution and not another company. We will invest in technology," Taneja said.

He said the company will invest in inorganic growth by investing in brands.

"We have been acquisitive at small levels in the past four years. Most of our growth has been organic but we will not shy away from making mid- to large-ticket acquisitions by taking our board into confidence. About 70 percent of the fund will be used for organic growth and around 30 percent for acquisitions," Taneja said.

The company has around 1,300 people working with it directly and plans to increase it by 50 percent by the end of the next year.

"We should look at 1,900-2,000 people employed by Purplle by the end of next year. There are lots of people indirectly employed by us and we are probably one of the largest employers in the beauty segment in India," Taneja said.

He added that the company currently ships out five to six lakh products every month.

"We believe Purplle offers a unique value proposition and a superior customer experience and will continue to have strong tailwinds for a long time.

"We are excited with our new investment in the consumer-tech space and look forward to working closely with the Purplle team," Kedaara co-CEO and managing partner Sunish Sharma said.