Pepperfry.com, Indian furniture and home marketplace, has raised Rs 210 Crore in a fresh round of funding from current investors Goldman Sachs, Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) and Zodius Technology Fund. This is the largest investment raised by a vertical-focused, pure-play ecommerce company in India this year. These funds will be used to scale Pepperfry’s logistics & service network and to expand the Pepperfry Studios’ (Experience Centers) footprint.
In the last five years, more than three million customers have made purchases from over 10,000 merchants on the Pepperfry platform, leading it to a position of dominance in the online furniture and home segment in India.
In India, Pepperfry owns and operates the largest customer facing Big Box Supply Chain through 17 fulfilment hubs and a delivery fleet of over 400 vehicles, delighting customers across 500+ cities.
In the last year, Pepperfry has also extended its customer offerings to include Bespoke Interior Design Consulting and Project Management Services and has launched Pepperfry Studios in India’s six largest metros.
In these next few months the Pepperfry Studio coverage will be extended into Tier II and III towns, and in keeping with Pepperfry’s sharp focus on customer experience significant investments will be made behind Supply Chain Automation and the Big Box logistics network will expand to 1000+ Cities.
Ambareesh Murty, 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”.
Ankur Sahu, Co-Head of Private Equity at Goldman Sachs in Asia said, “Over the past year and a half, Pepperfry has continued to successfully innovate, grow its business and deliver on the macro theme of domestic consumption growth in India. In partnership with the talented management team, our goal is to establish a differentiated and sustainable leader in India’s rapidly growing ecommerce industry to stand the test of time.”
Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director, Bertelsmann India Investments 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”.
Niren Shah, Managing Director, Norwest Venture Partners said, “Pepperfry is built on strong values and a differentiated business model. We have been fans of Pepperfry since its inception and are confident that Ambareesh and Ashish will continue to excite customers and create exceptional value for all stakeholders.”
Gautam Patel, Managing Director, Zodius Technology Fund said, “Pepperfry’s success lies in deep understanding of their customers by analyses of customer requirement and experience data. This latest round of funding is a validation of Pepperfry’s value proposition and our continued commitment to the business.”
