Exclusive: Pepperfry converts into a public company

Joining the league of over two dozen companies such as FirstCry, Cars24 and Pine Labs, omnichannel furniture and home decor company Pepperfry is set to go public and has just converted into a public entity. 

Mumbai-based Pepperfry is converting into a public entity as per the resolution passed by the company’s board of directors, regulatory filings show. The new name of the company is Pepperfry Limited.

While Pepperfry had set a target to go IPO by the second half of this year, it’s likely to delay the process in the wake of the poor performance of several companies including Paytm and Zomato on the stock exchange.

The decade-old company founded by Ambareesh Murty and Ashish Shah works on a marketplace model in both offline and online formats. The company leverages franchises and studios to drive sales. 

Pepperfry had around 73 showrooms as of January and currently has over 140 studios through its franchise programme. The company claims that 35% of its volume is driven by studios.

Pepperfry had raised $45 million in debt funding in 2021. Two years ago, the company had raised an equity round from Pidilite Industries. As per Fintrackr’s estimates, it was valued at around $462 million in that round.

Backed by Pidilite, Pepperfry’s operating revenue shrank close to 14% to Rs 203.4 crore in FY21 from Rs 236.3 crore in FY20. Meanwhile, the company managed to bring down its losses by 61.6% to Rs 47.2 crore in FY21 from Rs 122.8 crore in FY20.

Apart from offline furniture chains, Pepperfry competes with UrbanLadder and WoodenStreet. While UrbanLadder had lost its sheen, WoodenStreet has been scaling at a rapid clip and recently scooped up a $30 million Series B round led by WestBridge.