Athira Sethu
Kochi, 15 October 2024
Beauty retailer Purplle, the competitor of Nykaa, has closed its Series F funding round of around $180 million at a valuation of $1.25 billion. In July of this year, Purplle had raised some $120 million, and now it has raised an additional $60 million.
The funding round was led by a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). Other participants include existing investors like Premji Invest and Blume Ventures, as well as a new investor Sharrp Ventures, founded by Rishabh Mariwala.
This funding round is a great deal because for the first time this year, five funding rounds exceeded $100 million. Other such startups include Physics Wallah, Whatfix, InMobi, M2P Fintech, and Drip Capital.
With the majority of operations still online, Purplle is opening its stores in smaller cities, especially tier 2 and 3. Indeed, this picks up on the changing patterns of customers’ buying habits as there is an increasing demand to buy beauty and personal care products from physical stores.
In addition to scale building, Purplle aims to improve its financial performance. The firm announced that it was now operationally profitable. In FY24, the operating revenue increased by 43% and stood at Rs 680 crore. Net loss reduced by 46% to Rs 124 crore from Rs 230 crore of the previous year.
It sells various beauty brands but also boasts of its own line in the brand names GoodVibes, Carmesi, NYBae, and the Indian division of Faces Canada which it acquired recently in 2022.
Purplle became a unicorn in 2022 when the startup raised $33 million in a Series E round and valued the company at $1.1 billion. That has attracted investors such as Goldman Sachs, Nexus, Kedaara Capital, Sequoia Capital, among others.
Purplle’s recent funding is good news for the beauty retail space, as it shows growth and investment interest. The company is continuing to evolve its business model and expand its market presence.
