Pepperfry raises Rs.250Cr for expansion in Tier II cities

Pepperfry.com, a furniture and home marketplace, raised Rs. 250 crore in a fresh round of funding from State Street Global Advisors, the asset management business of State Street Corporation, an investment management company with USD 2.78 trillion in assets under management (AUM).

The fresh funds will be deployed to expand Pepperfry's experience centers in Tier II towns, invest behind developing AR/VR technology for virtual touch and feel, and enhance the private brand franchise in preparation for its next financial milestone of an IPO.

Including this current round, Pepperfry has raised over Rs. 1200 crore of capital since it began operations six years ago.

Home furniture and decor is amongst the largest consumption categories in India, expected to reach Rs. 350,000 Crore in market size by 2020. Leveraging this opportunity, Pepperfry aims to differentiate across the value chain, build supply and demand side differentiation by working with thousands of small manufacturers, develop an extensive portfolio of private brands, establish an omni-channel footprint of over 25 Pepperfry experience centers and build India's largest consumer-facing Big-Box supply chain serving customers in 500 Indian cities.

In the last five years, the company's revenue has grown at a CAGR of over 83 percent, and with this fresh round of investment, aims to accelerate past the break-even point and become a profitable business over the next 12-18 months.

"We have been fortunate to have partners who believe in our business, are aligned with our strategy and value our execution capabilities. I welcome a marquee investor like State Street Global Advisors to Pepperfry and look forward to their partnership in this new phase of our journey," said Pepperfry founder and CEO, Ambareesh Murty.