Engineer turned entrepreneur Ambareesh Murty’s Pepperfry | A timeline

Ambareesh Vedantam Murty (51), the founder of furniture line passed on Tuesday night due to cardiac arrest in Leh. Murty was an Indian entrepreneur and business executive. 

The news broke with a tweet from Ashish Shah, co-founder of Pepperfry – “Extremely devastated to inform that my friend, mentor, brother, soulmate @AmbareeshMurty is no more. Lost him yesterday night to a cardiac arrest at Leh. Please pray for him and for strength to his family and near ones.”

In 2011, Murty, alongside Ashish Shah, established Pepperfry, a notable player in the furniture and home decor market. Pepperfry till date has secured a total funding of $285.3 million through a series of 10 funding rounds. Their most recent funding was obtained on November 23, 2021, through a Debt Financing round.

The state of Pepperfry

Pepperfry reported net loss of Rs 194 crore for financial year 2021-22 which was higher than loss of Rs 106 crore it reported in the preceeding financial year. The company's revenue from operations rose 23 per cent to Rs 247 crore as against Rs 201 crore in financial year 2021. Its operational loss also (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) jumped to Rs 121 crore in FY 2022 versus Rs 40 crore in FY2021.

The mounting loss in financial year 2022 can be attributed to second wave of Covid-19 due to which the country had to undergo shutdowns to curb the spread of the pandemic. The company is yet to report its financial year 2023 earning.

Pepperfry's quick rise

Pepperfry shot to prominence in the online furniture and home décor retail. Pepperfry eventually grew to be a brand with over 60 lakh registered users with footprints spanning over 500 cities across India. The company operates as an online marketplace specialising in furniture and home décor, encompassing a diverse range of offerings such as furnishings, lighting, beds, tables, chairs, cabinets, and even kitchen appliances. It expanded rapidly to physical Pepperfry Studios across 57 cities in India. These studios serve as immersive spaces and help generating around 25 per cent of the company's total business. The company generates much of its revenue around 80 to 85 per cent through the sale of solid wood furniture. 

A TIMELINE OF PEPPERFRY'S FUNDING ROUNDS

Murty’s corporate career

Murty began his career as a management trainee in 1996 with Cadbury India. He spent his next five years in the company’s marketing division reaching up to the position of brand manager. He served at Cadbury’s Delhi, Rajasthan, and Mumbai offices until 2001. He eventually held positions at ICICI Prudential AMC and Levi Strauss India. In 2003, Murty quit Levi Strauss’ Bengaluru office to start Origin Resource, a financial training venture for asset management. He switched to Britannia in 2005 as a marketing manager. Seven months later, he moved to eBay India. Within two years, he became the country head of eBay India, the Philippines, and Malaysia. During his tenure with eBay, he also served as the vice chairman of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). 

Starting up Pepperfry

In 2012, he co-founded Pepperfry, along with Ashish Shah. Pepperfry is an e-commerce furniture and home goods company. Over the past decade, the company expanded to various cities. The company opened its first offline store in 2014 in Mumbai, and by 2019 the count surged to over 70 stores across 28 cities in India. It has warehouses in in Bangalore, Jodhpur, Mumbai, and Delhi. Furthermore, the company ventured into home interior partnering with Hettich, Bosch, Siemens, Kajaria, Gyproc, among others in 2020. Mumbai-headquartered Pepperfry reported a revenue of Rs 247 crore in the financial year 2022. The company, so far, has raised $285.3 million in multiple round of funding.

Passion for business

Murty held a BE degree from Delhi College of Engineering and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He also provided home-tuitions to students of Class XI and XII in Physics and Math while he was pursuing his graduation. Furthermore, his fling with entrepreneurship began at a very early age as he had set up a small business called Tutors’ Bureau that connected talented tutors with school students. He ran the venture successfully for 2 years in the early 1990s.