Pepperfry co-founder and COO Ashish Shah, while sharing plans to develop the studios offline, told PTI that the company expects to become profitable as soon as the market opens.

“We are a Rs 1,000 crore turnover company. We are on the verge of becoming profitable. As soon as the market opens, I think it will post our first profit. After that, we plan to do an IPO in the next 12-18 months, ”Shah said.

He said the company expects to be in the unicorn club in terms of enterprise value soon. “We are in the process of changing the structure of the company. As soon as that is done, we will go for this process (DRHP). Hopefully we should soon be worth $ 1 billion. Our IPO value will be in that fork, ”Shah said.

The company has raised $ 235 million to date from Norwest Venture Partners, Goldman Sachs, Bertelsmann Investments India (BII).

Pepperfry has announced plans to add 200 offline studios to FOFO (Franchise Operated Franchise) in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

“We’re looking to open a lot more centers in the northeast. These stores are going to be neighborhood stores in the subways. The second target area is all level 2 and level 3 towns. From my point of sale of products, we reach over 300 cities, ”Shah said.

Pepperfry customers can browse the products in the studios and order them online.

“These studios will be spread over 400 to 500 square feet like a neighborhood store. The studios contribute 30% of the overall activity. With the arrival of new studios, their contribution to the activity is expected to reach more than 40%. The stores will find at least 100 new towns, ”Shah said.

He said the company would seek to recruit young entrepreneurs to participate in this acceleration program by investing around Rs 15 lakh, which includes real estate costs, interior design and the products that will be on display.

The company has already opened more than 70 studios in 40 cities over the past six years, 32 of which are based on the FOFO model.