Pureplay Skin Sciences (India) Pvt. Ltd, which sells direct-to-consumer skin and hair care brands Plum and Phy, has raised ₹110 crore in series B funding round from investors led by venture capital firm Faering Capital.
Trifecta Capital and existing investor Unilever Ventures also took part in the round, Pureplay Skin Sciences’ founder and chief executive officer Shankar Prasad said in an interview. He said the company plans to use the fresh capital in research, sourcing, developing new products, to scale up distribution network.
“We intend to invest this money into expanding our product range largely in skincare. We will be partnering with technology specialists in formulations, packaging and manufacturing,” said Prasad.
He added that Pureplay Skin Sciences serves 250,000 customers every month and is targeting an annual revenue run rate of more than ₹200 crore by March 2021.
The investment will also be utilized to open more retail stores. The brand is currently available in 6,000 outlets in more than 220 cities, in addition to 15 online marketplaces which contribute over two-third of Plum’s revenue.
“Our distribution is still relatively small. We have grown 2.5 to 3X in distribution terms in spite of covid-led disruptions over the last 12 months. We will be expanding the unassisted selling in the offline stores including beauty specialist stores, modern trade, multibrand outlets such as Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Metro Cash and local supermarkets along with chemists. The aim is to ensure our brand is present in 100,000 stores in the next two years so that we can achieve ₹500 crore in revenues in the next three years,” said Prasad.
