Mumbai-based Manash Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd, which operates beauty products and services marketplace Purplle.com, has secured Rs 3.44 crore ($537,000) in a fresh funding round from a clutch of investors, a person aware of the development told VCCircle.
Singapore-based Mountain Pine Capital and Suncoast Investments led the round, with participation from individual investors.
It is not clear whether this is a top-up to the company’s Series A round or a bridge round. In July last year, The Economic Times reported that the company was close to raising $6 million in a Series B round. The current status of that fundraise is unclear.
Rahul Dash and Manish Taneja, co-founders of Purplle, did not immediately respond to email queries from VCCircle, seeking comment.
Purplle had last raised an undisclosed sum from JSW Ventures and existing investors stage investor Blume Ventures and early-to-growth-stage VC firm IvyCap Ventures in July last year.
In January 2015, it secured its Series A funding round from IvyCap Ventures. The company had raised its seed funding from Blume Ventures, Mumbai Angels and Chennai Angels in August 2013.
The startup was founded by IIT Delhi alumnus Taneja and IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad alumnus Dash in 2012.
The six-year-old company retails products for skin care, make-up, haircare, body care and beauty appliances from more than 600 Indian and international brands.
While the platform caters primarily to women, it also offers beauty products for men in categories like haircare, skincare, fragrance, beard and shaving care. Purplle also offers a virtual assistant to help users make purchasing decisions.
In October this year, the firm strengthened its top deck by appointing Pooja Acharya, a former executive at Japanese personal care company Shiseido, as its chief beauty officer. In her new role, Acharya will introduce Purplle’s products into the brick and mortar retail format, help the firm foray into new beauty segments and introduce exclusive international brands in India, media reports had stated.
While the company is yet to file its financial statement for 2016-17, data available with VCCEdge, the research platform of News Corp VCCircle, showed that the company registered a more than three-fold rise in revenues at Rs 29.7 crore during 2015-16, up from Rs 8.42 crore in the previous financial year. However, total expenditure also rose nearly three-fold to Rs 49 crore, up from Rs 16.95 crore the previous year. Net losses also widened to Rs 19.5 crore, up from Rs 8.48 crore the previous year.
