Pureplay Skin Sciences raises funds through Series B round

Pureplay Skin Sciences (India) has raised approximately $20m through Series B funding round that was led by venture capital firm Faering Capital.

The funding round had also seen participation from Trifecta Capital and existing investor Unilever Ventures.

The cosmetics company sells skin and hair care brands Plum and Phy.

Its brands are available in 6,000 stores in over 220 cities across India, besides 15 online marketplaces.

Proceeds from the funding round will be used on research, sourcing, development of new products, and to increase distribution network.

In an interview with LiveMint, Pureplay Skin Sciences founder and CEO Shankar Prasad said: “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.”

Currently serving 250,000 customers monthly, the firm is aiming for an annual revenue  of over $37.04m by March 2021.

Prasad added: “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 Rs5bn [$92.59m] in revenues in the next three years.”