Mar 4, 2025

SHARE Beauty ecommerce unicorn Purplle has secured fresh capital of INR 99.88 Cr (around $11.43 Mn) from its parent Manash E-commerce Private Limited. Regulatory documents sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) showed that Manash E-commerce issued 1,13,200 shares to Manash Lifestyle Private Limited at an issue price of 8,824 each. It is to be noted that this is an internal cash transfer and not fresh funding at a parent level. Purplle’s board passed a resolution to give effect to the allotment of equity shares on a rights issue basis at its meeting held on February 28, 2025. The investment comes amid reports that the Purplle, which counts Goldman Sachs, Peak XV Partners and Kedaara Capital among its investors, is likely to tap the public markets between the second half of this year and early 2026. In October last year, Purplle closed its Series F funding round at INR 1,500 Cr led by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). The round also saw participation from existing investors Premji Invest, Blume Ventures along with new investors, including Sharrp Ventures joining its cap table. Founded in 2012 by Manish Taneja and Rahul Dash, Purplle sells a wide range of beauty, personal care, skincare and cosmetics products, typically catering to households in Tier-II and III towns. Most of its gross merchandise value (GMV) comes from smaller cities such as Mysuru, Coimbatore, Kochi, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Siliguri. Purplle’s private label play — built around acquisitions of D2C brands such as Faces Canada, Carmesi, Good Vibes and NY Bae — has helped the company carve a niche for itself in India’s fast-growing beauty and personal care market. In contrast, its competitors Nykaa, Meesho and Tata Cliq have looked to build a premium-focussed product portfolio through partnerships with coveted brands. Mumbai-based beauty ecommerce marketplace Purplle’s revenue zoomed 43% to INR 679.6 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 475 Cr in the previous fiscal year. The company also managed to reduce its consolidated net loss by 46% to INR 124.1 Cr during the year under review from INR 230 Cr reported in FY23. Twelve-year-old Purplle claims to sell over 60,000 products from more than 1,000 brands, including Plum, Wow Skin Science, mCaffeine, Maybelline and SUGAR Cosmetics, on its platform. Besides, it also sells products under its private labels mentioned above. The startup claims to have amassed more than 7 Mn monthly active users. Its growth is indicative of the growing ecommerce space in the country where users are increasingly turning to online platforms to purchase beauty and personal care products. Mumbai-based D2C skincare brand Foxtale last month raised $30 Mn in a Series C funding round led by KOSÉ Corporation. However, Purplle faces intense competition with rivals Reliance Retail’s Tira, Flipart’s Myntra, Tata Cliq and Meesho amping up their presence in India’s beauty and personal care market. Add to that the rise of quick commerce players selling beauty products. The Indian beauty and personal care (BPC) market is projected to reach a size of $30 Bn by 2027 , growing at an annual rate of 10%, making it the fastest-growing among large economies.