UAE's ADIA leads Indian beauty retailer Purplle Group's $120m fundraising

THE Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), an investment institution, has spearheaded a $120 million (£95 million) funding round for Purplle Group, an Indian online beauty retailer.

Mint, an Indian financial daily, reported that following the latest funding round, the startup's valuation has risen by 14 per cent to reach $1.25 billion.

Overall, the Mumbai-based firm has raised more than $500 million (£396 million).

In a statement issued on Monday (1), Purplle said the latest funding round has a combination of primary and secondary shares, the Mint report added.

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“ADIA has continued to support us as we pursue our vision of building a sustainable and profitable business,” the newspaper quoted Purplle co-founder and CEO Manish Taneja as saying.

Set up in 2012 by Taneja and Rahul Dash, Purplle sells various beauty and personal care products to cater to households with an annual income of Rs 5-30 lakh (£474-£28,441).

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Most of the company's target market lives in tier-2 and tier-3 towns, and it gets about half of its revenues from nearly 80 Indian cities, such as Mysore, Kochi, Ernakulam, and Siliguri, among others.

“It is our mission to democratise beauty and make it accessible to all, and while we have reached many beauty enthusiasts across India, we still have a long way to go,” Taneja told the Mint. He had also told the publication in April that the firm, which has two offline stores at the moment, aims to begin 5-10 more over the next few months.

ADIA's India connections

In May, ADIA and KKR, a US-based private equity firm, invested $1.5 billion (£1.18 billion) in India’s Reliance Retail Ventures’ warehousing assets, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reported.

In April, the sovereign wealth fund and India’s Kotak Alternative Investment Fund disclosed their plan to back Indian developer Prestige Group by providing $240 million (£190 million) in funding for residential projects across four cities in the south Asian country, another AGBI report said.

Also in the same month, Indian power firm JSW Energy Limited raised Rs 50 billion (£474 million) by selling shares to institutional investors that include ADIA.

In March, ADIA acquired shares in SpiceJet, an Indian carrier budget, according to Indian financial website Moneycontrol.