New Delhi: Purple Style Labs (PSL), the parent company of Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop (PPUS), has secured $14 million in Series-C funding from an impressive roster of investors, including ValueQuest S C A L E Fund, Singularity Growth Opportunities Fund I, ValPro, Masaba Gupta, and many other high-profile individuals. The round also saw the continued support of existing investors such as Astarc Ventures, Mukul Agrawal (Param Capital), Neelesh Bhatnagar (NB Ventures) and Yuj Ventures/Sid Yog (Founder, Xander Group).
With respect to the funding round, Abhishek (Monty) Agarwal, founder of Purple Style Labs, said, “Purple Style Labs was started in 2015 with the vision to build India’s largest Luxury Fashion House, and it has been extremely fulfilling for our team and investors to see the rapid progress in that journey. We acquired Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop in 2018 and have scaled it over 70x in the last five years, transforming it into the country’s largest omnichannel luxury fashion platform. In the coming years, we hope to achieve new heights with more key international locations, broadening our presence and taking Indian fashion & design to the next level.”
Fashion designer extraordinaire Masaba Gupta, who is now also an investor, calls it the “most powerful player in the multi-designer retail space” while expressing her full support for Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop. “I am very confident and proud of Abhishek’s vision with Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop. I have been a part of the brand since its inception & it has only grown from strength to strength. PPUS is the most powerful player in the multi-designer retail space & one of House of Masaba’s top retailers, so I am thrilled to have invested in a fast-growing company with a formidable omnichannel model”, she adds.
PSL has been achieving more than 100% Y-o-Y growth for the last 2 years, closing FY 22-23 with $45 Mn+ revenue on a consolidated basis achieving EBITDA breakeven at the same time. Furthermore, PSL has revealed that its March 2023 exit gross sales run rate has already hit around $75 million, and it anticipates further growth, with a projected run rate of $120 million in gross sales by March 2024. Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop was also recently featured on the Financial Times’ list of 500 high-growth companies in the Asia-Pacific region in 2023. It is the only Indian company that ranks among the top 100 in the apparel & fashion category. These significant achievements are a testament to PSL’s unwavering commitment to revolutionizing the luxury fashion industry.
Since acquiring Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop in 2018, PSL has opened 15 Pernia’s Pop-Up Studio experience centres across prominent cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad and an international store in Mayfair, London. The next two years will see more international stores opening in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dubai, and Singapore, apart from the current London store. This will be parallel to expanding the existing domestic footprint to cities such as Chennai and Surat. The company is also looking to invest growth capital in younger labels and continue acquiring mature brands as part of the vision to make PSL India’s largest luxury fashion house.
It opened its most ambitious experience centre in November 2022, spanning 50,000 sq. ft, at an iconic new address in Mehrauli, New Delhi (erstwhile known as the Indian Handicrafts Emporium). Renowned Bollywood actor and style icon Madhuri Dixit, an investor in PSL, inaugurated the store. This brand-new destination offers a well-researched and curated shopping experience to its discerning clientele, from modern brides-to-be to their families and fashionistas to connoisseurs of luxury.
This one-stop shop for bridal & ceremonial needs houses the country’s most sought-after couturiers and also showcases the finest in jewellery and accessories. One’s spoilt for choice as something suits every occasion and style sensibility. Think bespoke bridal wear, occasion wear, etc., from design mavens like Shyamal & Bhumika, Tarun Tahiliani, Falguni Shane Peacock, Amit Aggarwal, Gaurav Gupta, Seema Gujral, and many more. The team of expert in-store stylists meticulously caters to your needs in bridal consultation lounges depicting true grandeur.
The company has also launched Pernia’s Pop-Up Studio. Men – an extension of PPUS business – housing contemporary, ethnic, and occasion wear from some of the most celebrated names such as Rohit Bal, Rahul Mishra, Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna, Tarun Tahiliani, Amit Aggarwal, Anushree Reddy, Seema Gujral Men, Jatin Malik, and many more. The dedicated menswear destination has seen tremendous response from India’s fashion-savvy male audience and is now one of the biggest luxury retail platforms for men.
