Existing investors pour 210 cr on online furniture marketplace Pepperfry

 

Online furniture marketplace Pepperfry now has $160 million in its pocket since its establishments in 2011. Existing investors Goldman Sachs, Norwest Venture Partners, Bertelsmann India Investments and Zodiac Technology Fund have showered Rs 210crore into the market leader's expansion, in Series E funding today. The company might raise another Rs 150-200 crore in the next four weeks from a new set of investors, The Economic Times sugest.

Pepperfry claims that they are the largest investment raised by a vertical-focussed, pure e-commerce company in India this year.

Pepperfry's last round of funding took place in July 2015 at a valuation of $250million. When Goldman Sachs and Zodius made their entry in the list of investors, the Series D had about $100million. TV Mohandas Pai and Ranjan Pai also took part in the round through Zodius Technology Fund.

The funds will help Pepperfry to boost logistics and service network, and expand the footprint of its experience centers, Pepperfry studios, from six Tier I cities to 20, according to the ET report. 17 fulfilment hubs and a delivery fleet of over 400 vehicles is owned by Pepperfry.

Ambareesh Murthy, Co-founder & CEO of Pepperfry said “Our mission is to help 20 million customers create beautiful homes by 2020. We are doing this through a differentiated, profitable business model and I thank our investors for believing in the team and for being great partners on this journey.”

Evolution of the industry

Who would have thought 4 years ago that online portals would be the first option for buying furniture for urban youth?  Co- Founded by Ambareesh Murty and Ashish Shah, Pepperfry has vaguely shaped the industry. Pepperfry claims that more than three million customers have bought from over 10,000 merchants on their portal so far in over 500 cities.

Managing Director, Bertelsmann India Investments, Pankaj Makkar, said ""The Indian Internet story has just begun and the furniture category is set to witness explosive growth over the next couple of years. Pepperfry is an exceptional brand and is well positioned as the market leader to ride this next wave of market expansion."

Last fiscal year, Pepperfry claimed to earn Rs 1000 crore in sales from the 50 percent share of the market. The ET report sugests that it aims to triple by March 2018.

Competition

90 percent of India's furniture sector is unorganised. Only one percent is online from the organised sector. Urban Ladder, founded four years ago is roaring too- althought their funding is nothing close to that of Pepperfry: about $77 million in four rounds. A lot of action is being visible in the industry- with more players coming in with revolutionary business models. Quality and design prove to be more relevant than discount when it comes to furnitures in e commerce. Livspace, Woodenstreet, Homefuly and furniture rental startup Furienco are some of the younger players with their grip in the sector. Horizontal players like Snapdeal finds the furniture market very profitable. The competition is bound to get fiercer once Swedish furniture giant IKEA enters the picture.