Vegan skincare brand Plum has raised $35 million in a Series C round led by A91 Partners. Existing investors including Unilever Ventures and Faering Capital also participated in the round. As part of the transaction, Abhay Pandey from A91 Partners will join the board of Plum.
The funding values the firm at $250 million (around Rs 1,900 crore), according to Shankar Prasad, founder and CEO of Pureplay Skin Sciences, the parent company of Plum. To date, Plum has raised over $50 million from consumer-focused institutional investors, which portends its future growth as the category leader in the new-age, D2C beauty space.
“A91 Partners are passionate cheerleaders of the Indian consumer story, and we are delighted to have them join us on our quest to build scale with a difference,” said Shankar Prasad, CEO and founder, Plum. “The A91 team’s track record of picking winning consumer brands and partnering with them on their growth journeys is impressive.”
The fresh capital is expected to add momentum to Plum’s game plan of further strengthening its omni-channel presence, building new categories in addition to its core skincare category, and enhancing R&D capabilities. It would also onboard high-quality talent with a focus on investments in marketing and technology.
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Founded in 2013 by Prasad, Plum has a portfolio of vegan, cruelty-free and toxin-free beauty products across skincare, haircare, personal care, and makeup. It started off as an online-only beauty brand. The company later took the omnichannel route. It offers more than 160 stock keeping units (SKUs) in skincare, haircare, personal care, and makeup. The company claims that it has now reached over 250 towns and cities in India, through over 1,000 assisted outlets, and over 10,000 unassisted outlets.
“Plum’s relentless focus on product and brand in a noisy space of new-age consumer brands positions it uniquely to build an enduring business and A91 is privileged to be a partner in this journey,” said Abhay Pandey, general partner, A91 Partners.
Sameer Shroff, co-founder and managing Partner at Faering Capital, said that since the venture capital firm’s initial investment over a year ago, Plum has demonstrated strong growth across all its categories, channels, and most importantly its loyal customer base. “We are delighted to strengthen our partnership as Shankar and team build one of the best clean-beauty brands in the country,” said Shroff.
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