The direct-to-consumer ‘Omnichannel Beauty Platform’, Purplle, closes series F funding at Rs 1,500 crores. The subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority had led the round of funding, even though Premji Invest and Blume Ventures are likely to have committed more than the amounts they earlier had. Other participants in the funding round included Sharrp Ventures.
This financial push is an effort to enhance the technological capacity of the company to democratize beauty and bridge the gap that exists within the industry in terms of access.
Manish Taneja, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Purplle, said, “As we continue to innovate and leverage our technology and data capabilities to deliver the best omnichannel experience to our customers, this latest round of investment reaffirms the importance of our vision.”
Rishabh Mariwala at Sharrp Ventures said, “Our strategic investment in Purplle further reiterates our intent to enable new-age companies which direct their focus toward making satisfying experiences for customers a priority. ” We’ll hence ensure the company caters to varied consumer needs in India by offering bespoke accessible beauty solutions using data-empowered insights and entry into underpenetrated markets.”
Mariwala further revealed that “Our business model focuses on forming strategic partnerships for the same cause and this investment is a testament to Sharrp’s capability of identifying and investing in market leaders whose visions are aligned with mutual success”
Set up in 2012, Purplle employs about 4,000 employees and operates an online platform that touches more than 10 million consumers every month. The company has 20,000 offline touchpoints and employs leading artificial intelligence systems owned by a proprietary data framework, thus offering personalized shopping experiences through user profiles and product recommendations.
The brand enjoys collaborations with third-party brands and offers direct-to-consumer private brands, such as Faces Canada, Alps Goodness, Good Vibes, Carmesi, and DermDoc. Purplle became India’s 102nd unicorn in 2022, supported by a consortium of investors that includes ADIA’s wholly owned subsidiary, Kedaara, Sequoia Capital India, JSW Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Verlinvest, Blume Ventures, and Paramark Ventures. A unicorn is a privately owned startup valued at more than $1 billion.
