Beauty D2C brand Plum raises $35 million in Series C

Beauty D2C brand Plum has raised $35 million (Rs 270 crores) in a Series C round led by A91 Partners, a leading late stage-focused venture capital fund. The round also saw participation from existing investors Unilever Ventures and Faering Capital. Plum has raised over $50 million from consumer-focused institutional investors till date. The start-up said that post the fresh transaction, Abhay Pandey from A91 Partners will join the board of Plum.

The company said that the fresh funding will be utilised in strengthening the brand’s omni-channel presence, building new categories in addition to its core skin care category, enhancing R&D capabilities, and onboarding high-quality talent with a focus on investments in marketing and technology. The brand today has wide acceptance across channels and categories - skin, hair, body, men’s care, and now makeup, reinforcing its potential for dominance in a rapidly growing market for clean beauty products. At a current annual revenue run of over Rs 225 crores on a net revenue basis, Plum said that it aims to double that number over the next 12 months.

Founded in 2013 by Shankar Prasad, an IIT-ISB-Unilever alum, Plum claims to be a cruelty-free skin care-focused company.

“The latest investment will help us accelerate on our exciting growth path, not only in our core skincare category, but also in adjacent large categories like hair care, makeup, body care and specialist care for men. In doing so, we want to bring alive our brand ethos of ‘being good’ in as many different and delightful ways as possible,” Prasad said.

The D2C market in India is expanding fast as COVID-19 pushed the growth of the e-commerce industry with a change in shopping behaviour.

Since its first funding round in late 2018, Plum says that it has grown 15x, driven by a strong leadership & investor team focused on building value.

“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,” Abhay Pandey, General Partner, A91 Partners said.