Purplle.com raises US$30 million in Series C funding round led by Goldman Sachs

by Suman Gupta

Funds to expand and strengthen supply chain, marketing and technology

New Delhi, DECEMBER 2019 — http://Purplle.com(Purplle), a leading Indian online beauty and personal care platform, announced today, that it has closed a US$30m Series C funding round. The round was led by Goldman Sachs, a global investment bank and active investor in India, and included participation from existing investors IvyCap Ventures, Blume Ventures and JSW Ventures.

 The US$7 billion Indian online beauty and personal care market is estimated to be growing at more than 15 percent CAGR driven by increasing awareness of the category and penetration in second and third tier cities.

Launched in 2012,  Purplle has seen strong growth with revenue and orders growing by 100 percent year on year while being managed with financial discipline.  The company has turned a cash profit since 2018 and until this Series C fund raise, marking Purplle’s largest institutional raise, the company has been highly capital efficient by raising only US$10 million over the past six years.

Through its online app and website, Purplle provides a highly-personalized digital shopping experience for consumers through the creation of detailed user personas, enabling customers to test make up and recommending products based on persona, search key words and purchase behavior.  The company offers a wide assortment of 47, 500 stock keep units (SKUs) across more than 1,000 third party and own brands.  Over the past two years, Purplle’s net merchandise value has more than quadrupled.

The new funding will be utilized to further strengthen four key pillars of growth:

1. Investment in building out unique supply of brands/products on the platform through  partnership with global brand houses and own brands

2. Enhancement of the company’s data stack through investments in digital women-focused content

3. The continued curation of a highly personalized digital experience for consumers powered  by user personas and the company’s recommendation engine

4. Investment in the creation of a global supply chain of world class beauty products

Purplle.com’s Co-founder and CEO Manish Taneja said, “This investment from Goldman Sachs is a testament to the promise and potential of Purplle.  This new funding will help propel the business to its next phase of growth for our customers and investors.”

Elaborating on the company’s growth plans, Rahul Dash, Co-founder of http://Purplle.comadded, “This milestone funding will help us expand and strengthen our supply chain, marketing and technology.  Given our rate of progress, we expect our growth in scale and size to expand ten-fold by the end of 2023.”

Niladri Mukhopadhyay, a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, said, “Purplle, which has managed impressive growth while applying financial discipline, is one of the most promising vertical e-commerce platforms in India.  The successful combination of best in class technology with their own innovative brands and localized beauty content is a key differentiator in this rapidly growing segment of India’s online market.  We look forward to leveraging our global experience and network for the continued growth of Purplle.”

About Purplle.com: Founded in 2012, Purplle operates India’s leading online beauty and personal care e-commerce platform with a wide assortment of 47.5K SKUs across more than 1,000 third party and own brands. The company is focused on building an inclusive beauty destination for women with its #BeautyForAll mission. Purplle has built a differentiated, highly-personalized digital shopping experience for consumers through its app by creating detailed user personas, enabling customers to test make up and recommending products based on persona, search key words and purchase behavior. With over 450 employees and growing at more than 100 percent year on year, Purplle is well positioned to be a leader in the Indian beauty space.

About Goldman Sachs: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. Goldman Sachs has been serving Indian clients since the early 1990s and established an onshore presence in India in December 2006 following a ten-year joint venture. Today, it serves leading corporate and institutional clients through corporate finance (investment banking), equity sales and trading and fixed income securities businesses, as well as providing macro-economic and investment research. Goldman Sachs is also an active investor in India, deploying more than $3.6 billion in capital since 2006.