[Funding alert] Beauty products e-marketplace Purplle raises $50M from Premji Invest in ongoing Series D round

Mumbai-based beauty products ecommerce marketplace Purplle has reportedly raised around $50 million from Premji Invest - the family office of Wipro founder-chairman Azim Premji, in a continued Series D round.

In late October 2021, Purplle had raised $75 million in a funding round led by private equity fund Kedaara at an enterprise valuation of Rs 4,662 crore ($630 million).

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

"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," Manish had said.

"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.

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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.

Purplle is playing in a beauty products category seeing a massive resurgence, with traditional and new makeup categories doing exceptionally well. 

Since the startup’s market share is small, there is huge room for growth. Purplle runs an efficient business and has been close to profitability for the last two years. The startup is focusing on growth for the next two years. 

Moving forward, the startup aims to acquire more companies in the beauty or content space, Manish revealed in a recent conversation with YourStory. Purplle has had a successful history of M&As, with the acquisition of Stay Quirky and Carmesi.

“This year, we bought a minority stake in Juicy Chemistry. Going forward, Purplle will keenly look at differentiated brands,” Manish added.