Sequoia Capital-backed Purplle raises $33 million, becomes India's 16th unicorn in 2022

Amid increasing reports of lay-offs in the Indian start-up ecosystem and the funds drought since April, India's startup sector keeps churning Unicorns with Purplle becoming the 16th company to clock a valuation of more than a billion dollars after the Mumbai based online beauty products marketplace secured $33 million as part of series E funding round led by South Korea's Paramark ventures. Notably, Purplle becomes the second company to get unicorn status in June after PhysicsWallah got the coveted unicorn tag earlier this week with a funding of $100 million.

The Sequoia Capital-backed Purplle in a statement on June 9 said the company's existing investors Premji Invest, Blume Ventures, and homegrown private equity firm Kedaara Capital also participated in the funding round, which takes the overall equity funding raised by the company to $215 million.

'Funds to be invested in tech and expanding business': Purplle CEO

Purplle in the read out as stated by co-founder and chief executive officer Manish Taneja said, the company plans to use the funds raised in technology and expand business operations in the country. He further added the company also plans to scale-up its private labels and industry-first innovations.

Among the earlier fund raise by the company, $75 million was raised from Kedaara capital in the October of 2021. The online personal care products company in the series-D funding round raised an additional $65 mn from Premji Invest, taking the overall fund raise 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.

Further adding, Chunsoo appreciating the team of Purplle said, "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."

Purplle becomes India's 102 Unicorn  

The company which raised its latest funding round of $1.1 billion became India's 102 Unicorn with a valuation of $1 billion or more. The company follows PhysicsWallah, which became a Unicorn earlier this week after securing a funding of $100 million. The personal care e-commerce platform is co-founded by IIT Delhi alumnus Taneja, and IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad alumnus Rahul Dash in 2012. 

Some of the investors in the company include billionaire Azim Premji's Premji Invest, Kedaara Capital, Goldman Sachs, JSW Ventures along with Blume Ventures.

IMAGE: Purplle.com