Sequoia-backed Purplle joins unicorn club after $33mn fundraise

Sequoia Capital-backed online beauty products marketplace Purplle has joined the coveted unicorn club after the Mumbai-based company raised $33 million as a part of its Series E funding round led by South Korea's Paramark Ventures.

Existing investors Premji Invest, Blume Ventures, and homegrown private equity firm Kedaara Capital also participated in the funding round, the company said in a statement on June 9. With the latest fundraise, the firm has raised $215 million in equity funding to date, Purplle said.

The company plans to use the fresh funds for investing in technology and penetrating deeper into India, its co-founder and chief executive officer Manish Taneja said. Purplle will also scale its private brands, and industry-first innovations, Taneja said.

Purplle becomes India's 102nd unicorn or a startup valued at $1 billion or more. The company raised the latest round at a valuation of $1.1 billion. Purplle follows edtech company PhysicsWallah, which raised $100 million in a funding round earlier this week, to become the second startup to join the unicorn club in June, ending a unicorn draught with two unicorns in a week against just one in the whole of May.

Founded by IIT Delhi alumnus Taneja, and IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad alumnus Rahul Dash in 2012, Purplle runs a beauty and personal care e-commerce platform. The company counts Goldman Sachs, JSW Ventures along with Blume Ventures, Kedaara Capital, and billionaire Azim Premji's Premji Invest as it backers.

The online personal care products company had raised $75 million in a funding round in October last year led by Kedaara Capital. Purplle also raised another $65 million as a part of its Series D funding round from Premji Invest, taking the total Series D fundraise to $140 million.

"Purplle is addressing the enormous vacuum in the beauty and personal care industry in India in a way that the rising demand from massive Indian consumers can be best served beyond the limited set of customers in a few major cities," said Chunsoo Kim, Founder and Managing Partner of Paramark Ventures.

"We find the team’s determination and endeavor to build a long-lasting business to serve such needs of the Indian market through technology and customer delight both apparent and inspiring," Chunsoo added.

Purplle, which also manufactures beauty and personal care products, has raised funds a week after direct-to-customer (D2C) brand SUGAR Cosmetics raised $50 million in Series D fundraise, suggesting investment appetite for consumer companies is rising again after funding had slowed down since the start of 2022.

Moneycontrol had reported last week how D2C brands were focusing on profitability rather than raising funds and burning cash to fuel growth, amid slowing funding to D2C brands.