India's Pepperfry gets $31m Series E round

Pepperfry will use the new capital to expand Pepperfry Studios, its showrooms where customers can consult with interior design experts for advice on decorating their homes, into additional mid-size Indian cities. The company will also increase supply chain automation and expand its logistics network.

Currently Pepperfry has 17 logistics centers and a delivery fleet of more than 400 vehicles that operate in over 500 Indian cities, according to a statement. The company claims that more than 10,000 dealers use the Pepperfry platform to sell furniture and home accessories, and that three million customers in India and worldwide have made purchases through the site since its founding in 2011.

All of the investors in this round participated in Pepperfry's $100 million Series D round last year; in addition, Norwest and Bertelsmann invested INR950 million ($16 million) in the company's 2014 Series C and Norwest committed $5 million in 2011 and $8 million in 2013. Norwest has participated in all of Pepperfry's funding rounds so far, according to AVCJ Research.

Pepperfry's biggest direct competitor is Urban Ladder, which is backed by Sequoia Capital, SAIF Partners and Kalaari Capital. Other players in India's home décor space include design portal LivSpace, which recently received a INR1 billion round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, and HomeLane, another design portal backed by Sequoia.

Bertelsmann targets early and growth-stage Indian companies with ambitions to expand globally in the education, media, technology and services sectors. Its investments this year include a $5 million commitment to social network and shopping app Roposo and participation in the $8 million Series B round for e-commerce platform KartRocket.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Consumer
• Technology
• Expansion
• India
• TMT
• Norwest Venture Partners
• Zodius Capital
• Goldman Sachs
• Venture