Purplle, a beauty startup, raises $33 million in funding and becomes a unicorn.

Purplle, an online retailer of beauty and personal care products, has raised $33 million in funding from Paramark Ventures at a valuation of $1.1 billion.

Purplle joined the unicorn club – or privately held companies with a valuation of $1 billion or more – this week, following the online education venture PhysicsWallah.

This comes in the midst of a funding freeze in the global startup ecosystem.

“In my opinion, if you’re a good company, if your unit economics are in place, you’re good founders, and your corporate governance is top-notch, I don’t think there’s ever a funding winter,” co-founder and CEO Manish Taneja told ET.

The round was also attended by existing investors Premji Invest, Blume Ventures, and Kedaara Capital. The company has raised a total of $215 million, including the most recent round. Goldman Sachs and Verlinvest are among their previous investors.

Purplle’s valuation was $630 million during its most recent fundraiser in November.

“Our revenue more than doubled from the first quarter of FY22 to the first quarter of FY23.” In addition, the business has become more diverse. While online still accounts for the vast majority of our revenue, offline is becoming increasingly important. “I believe that is what has led to us being able to command a valuation that is nearly double what it was in the previous round,” Taneja said.

Taneja and Rahul Dash founded the company in 2012.

In FY22, its annualized gross merchandise value (GMV) was $180 million.

The funds will be used for marketing, advertising, and brand and technology strengthening, according to the company.

Purplle, which competes with larger rival Nykaa, has seven million monthly active users on its platform and over 1,000 brands, including five private labels. It is particularly strong in non-metropolitan areas.

Purplle purchased the cosmetics and skincare brand Faces Canada last year. According to ET, the company’s combined revenue after the acquisition is expected to be Rs 750 crore. Taneja stated that no additional acquisitions were planned for the next 3-6 months.

“Any significant acquisition typically necessitates time for integration.” Otherwise, there are no synergies from an acquisition. So, for the time being, we’re very happy and busy integrating Faces into Purplle,” he explained.

In the last two years, startups such as The Good Glamm Group, Sugar Cosmetics, and Mamaearth have raised significant funds in the online beauty market, which large multinational corporations have traditionally dominated.

Sugar Cosmetics recently raised $50 million led by L Catterton.

On May 4, ET reported that The Good Glamm Group was in talks to close a $250 million round at a valuation of $1.8-$2 billion. The increased funding in the beauty space follows Nykaa’s blockbuster IPO last year, when it debuted on the Indian bourses with a market capitalisation of $7.1 billion.

While other beauty players and operators such as Plum, Sugar Cosmetics, and Nykaa are considering aggressive physical retail expansion, Taneja stated that Purplle will be cautious about aggressive offline expansion, even though its private brands Faces Canada and Good Vibes have benefited from offline store reopenings and their presence across 5,000 offline touch points.

“Given this year’s inflationary pressure, and thus likely pressure on demand, we’ll be cautious in how we expand… Do we aggressively expand? I believe it is something we will keep an eye on. We’ll keep our eyes and ears on the ground to see how things unfold, and then potentially move faster during the festival quarter, which runs from September to December,” he said.