Pepperfry raises $100 mn from Goldman Sachs, others

Online furniture retailer Pepperfry today said it has raised USD 100 million (about Rs 642 crore) from Goldman Sachs, Zodius Technology Fund, and existing investors Bertelsmann India Investments and Norwest Venture Partners.
The fourth round of funding will be used to strengthen the company's logistics, technology platform, experience centres and marketing efforts.
Pepperfry has previously raised about USD 28 million in three rounds.
"We will benefit tremendously from the global insight of Goldman Sachs and the business savvy of Zodius as they join the Pepperfry board. The investment will help us expand our presence and invest in strengthening our operations," Pepperfry founder and CEO Ambareesh Murty told PTI.

Pepperfry, which has more than 2 million customers, is a furniture and home products marketplace reaching over 300 cities directly.
"We will utilise the fresh capital to expand our logistics footprint in tier III and Tier IV cities by taking our fleet of delivery vehicles from 350 to 1,000 in the next 12 months," he said.

Pepperfry will also set up more experience centres, ramping up its presence to 20 cities, including Pune, Gurgaon, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow and Chandigarh.
"We are also looking at quadrupling our technology and engineering team with a focus on leveraging augmented reality on mobile to further enrich the buying experience. We should have about 500 people by then," Murty said.

"Goldman Sachs continues to back high-quality local entrepreneurs to build significant businesses that create and deliver value to the everyday lives of the country's young, billion plus population," Goldman Sachs Asia Co-Head Private Equity Ankur Sahu said.
The home and furniture market in India is pegged to be about USD 25-35 billion with online sales accounting for a minor portion.
However, with the segment expected to touch USD 70 billion by 2020, eCommerce would have a larger play.