MUMBAI: Pepperfry, a furniture and home marketplace, has raised Rs 250 crore in a fresh round of funding from State Street Global Advisors, the asset management business of State Street Corporation, an investment management company with $ 2.78 trillion in assets under management (AUM).

The fresh funds will be deployed to expand Pepperfry's experience centres in tier II towns, invest behind developing AR/VR technology for virtual touch and feel, and enhance the private brand franchise in preparation for its next financial milestone of an IPO.

Pepperfry founder and CEO Ambareesh Murty considers the company as fortunate to have partners who believe in Pepperfry’s business and are aligned with their strategy.

Including this current round, Pepperfry has raised over Rs1200 crore of capital since it began operations six years ago.

Home furniture and decor is amongst the largest consumption categories in India, expected to reach Rs 350,000 crore in market size by 2020. Leveraging this opportunity, Pepperfry aims to differentiate across the value chain, build supply and demand side differentiation by working with thousands of small manufacturers, develop an extensive portfolio of private brands, establish an omnichannel footprint of over 25 Pepperfry experience centres and build India's largest consumer-facing big-box supply chain serving customers in 500 Indian cities.

In the last five years, the company's revenue has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of over 83 per cent, and with this fresh round of investment, aims to accelerate past the break-even point and become a profitable business over the next 12-18 months.