Beauty retailer Purplle becomes India's 102nd unicorn with $33 million funding

Purplle has raised $33 million in a fresh funding round led by South Korean investment firm Paramark Ventures.

New Delhi: Omnichannel beauty retailer Purplle has become India’s newest unicorn (startup with a valuation of $1 billion or more) after raising $33 million in a fresh funding round led by South Korean investment firm Paramark Ventures. Existing investors in the company including Premji Invest, Blume Ventures, and Kedaara Capital also participated in the mop-up. According to Co-Founder and CEO at Purplle.com, Manish Taneja, the latest infusion is an opportunity to further the company’s mission of building the beauty industry in India with technological investments. He also noted that the funds will help the company in scaling its private brands, and industry-first innovations. 

Prior to this, Purplle had raised more than $34 million in its Series D1 funding round in January 2022. The round was led by Faces Investment Holdings, and valued the company at slightly more than $700 million. 

Chunsoo Kim, Founder and Managing Partner of Paramark Ventures, said, “Purplle is addressing the enormous vacuum in the beauty and personal care industry in India in a way that the rising demand from massive Indian consumers can be best served beyond the limited set of customers in a few major cities.” Also Read: HUGE pay gap! Ex-HDFC Bank CEO earned 40 times more in FY21 than SBI chairman's package

According to media reports, Purplle is the 102nd unicorn startup in India, and the second firm to achieve the unicorn tag in the month of June 2022. Prior to Purplle, edtech startup PhysicsWallah turned unicorn after announcing $100 million funding in Series A funding from Westbridge and GSV Ventures. The company is the first edtech player to achieve this milestone in 2022. Also Read: Layer'r Shot controversial ads row: ASCI releases guidelines on harmful gender stereotypes