Purplle raises $38Mn in its latest funding round

Cosmetics and personal care products Ecommerce platform Purplle has raised ₹257.43 crore in the latest Series D round funding led by Sequoia Capital, Blume Ventures and Sangeeta Pendruka, the CEO of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited -owned Pantaloons.

Sequoia invested Rs 238 crore ($32 million) via a special purpose vehicle Faces Investments Holdings. Blume and Sangeeta Pendruka have invested the remaining amount. Purplle has approved the allotment of 5608 Series D1 preference shares at an issue price of Rs 459,041 per share to raise Rs 257.43 crore ($38 million).

The company is now reportedly valued at $728 million. The company had closed a $140 million last year, reportedly at a valuation of $500 million. It planned to use that capital to enhance its technology stack and in production as well as acquiring more smaller startups.

Purplle is the second-highest valued startup in this category after Nykaa. The company sells beauty, personal care products and gadgets for grooming. It sells its private labels on the platform, besides combined products of different brands. It also competes with other horizontal majors such as Amazon and Flipkart.

Purplle’s Founder and CEO Manish Taneja said, “I think offline is a huge market and we will love to be a player in it as well... We would like to have a significantly solid play in the omnichannel or offline model.”