Women-focused online beauty and grooming marketplace Purplle has scooped up $75 million in its Series E round led by private equity firm Kedaara Capital.
Founded by Manish Taneja and Rahul Dash in 2012, Purplle offers makeup, skincare, hair care and other beauty and personal care products by aggregating brands such as L’Oreal, Colorbar and Mamaearth on its platform.
Purplle also has its own brands such as NYBae and Good Vibes, which contribute to about a third of its revenue.
Its other investors include Sequoia India, Verlinvest, Blume Ventures and JSW Ventures.
Purplle plans to build a house of beauty and personal care brands, both by incubating and acquiring smaller startups. Acquisitions have become a key part of new-age brands’ strategy, as they use abundant capital in the market to consolidate their position and try newer sub segments.
In fact, e-commerce roll-up companies, modelled around US-based Thrasio, operate purely to acquire other brands – a theme that has seen hundreds of millions poured into companies this year at aggressive valuations, making it India’s hottest startup space virtually overnight.
“We are growing 70-80 percent year-on-year and want to continue that. We are looking for acquisitions, both brands as well as content firms, but are very selective, and fitting in with our culture is paramount,” Taneja said.
