• By Vaamanaa Sethi
  • Mon, 30 Oct 2023 03:28 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND
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JSW Ventures has completed the divestiture of its equity stake in Purplle, an e-commerce platform specializing in beauty and personal care products. The venture capital fund officially announced this transaction on October 30, disclosing that it has transferred its remaining shares to Ranjan Pai, representing the Manipal Group.

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Last month it was reported that Pai, the billionaire investor, is buying JSW Ventures' shares in Purplle for Rs 60-70 crore.

This marks the second occasion in five months that JSW Ventures is divesting shares in Purplle. In May, it executed a partial stake sale to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), generating an 18-fold return on its initial investment, as previously reported.

The two transactions, with a combined value of approximately $40 million, have resulted in significant gains for JSW Ventures. Their initial investment in Purplle in 2016 was estimated at around Rs 12 crore, as reported by Tracxn, a private markets data provider.

"JSW Ventures has fully exited their stake in Purplle from Fund I and has returned 2.7x of the fund size to their investors so far," the company said in a statement.

“Purplle was one of our earliest investments as a fund in 2016 and it has delivered a 57 percent Internal Rate of Return (IRR),” said Sachin Tagra, Managing Partner at JSW Ventures.

Established in 2012, Purplle.com boasts an extensive product range, featuring over 1,000 brands and offering close to 50,000 products through its website and app. Notable investors in the company include domestic private equity firm Kedaara Capital, as well as prominent names like Goldman Sachs, JSW Ventures, and several others.

“With their vision and dedication, the Purplle team, has created a digital ecosystem that revolutionizes how Indian consumers discover and experience beauty products. We are excited to be part of Purplle’s journey as they scale up,”  Ranjan Pai, Chairman of the Manipal Group, said.

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JSW Ventures, an early-stage institutional venture capital fund affiliated with the JSW Group's family office, specializes in backing technology-driven startups during their Pre-series A to Series A phases. The fund's primary investment focus lies in platform companies spanning various sectors, including consumer tech, health tech, B2B, agri tech, fintech, and enterprise SaaS companies.