Beauty products platform Purplle raises Rs 1,500 cr in funding round

Subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority leads in committing investment

Purplle, an omnichannel beauty platform, has secured an investment of Rs 1,500 crore at the close of a Series F funding round and will use the money to improve technology.

The round was led by a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and had additional participation from existing investors, including Premji Invest and Blume Ventures, which “significantly increased” their commitment. New investors, such as Sharrp Ventures, joined the capitalisation table, said Purplle in a statement.

The investment will bolster Purplle's “mission to democratise beauty, leverage technology” and bridge the “accessibility gap” in the industry.

“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,” said Manish Taneja, co-founder and chief executive officer at Purplle.

Rishabh Mariwala, who works with Sharrp Ventures, said his company’s strategic involvement with Purplle reinforces its philosophy of backing new-age platforms committed to customers. “Through the application of data-driven insights and the expansion into underserved markets, we seek to support the company in delivering personalised and accessible beauty solutions tailored to the diverse needs of consumers across India,” said Mariwala.

“Our business model focuses on building strategic partnerships with a common purpose, and this investment is a testament to Sharrp’s ability to identify and invest in market leaders with aligned goals who will benefit from shared success,” he said.

Purplle, which was founded in 2012 and employs 4,000 people, runs an online platform that reaches more than 10 million consumers every month. It has 20,000 offline touch points and uses artificial intelligence systems built on a proprietary data stack. The company said it offers a personalised shopping experience for consumers by creating user profiles and recommending products.

Purplle is a partner to third-party brands and works with direct-to-consumer private brands like Faces Canada, Alps Goodness, Good Vibes, Carmesi and DermDoc.

Purplle became India’s 102nd unicorn in 2022, backed by investors including a wholly owned subsidiary of ADIA, Kedaara, Premji Invest, Sequoia Capital India, JSW Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Verlinvest, Blume Ventures, and Paramark Ventures. A unicorn is a startup company valued at more than $1 billion which is privately owned and not listed on a share market.