HomeLane.com raises $4.5M in Series A funding from Sequoia, Aarin & others

Bangalore-based Homevista Decor and Furnishing Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates online marketplace for fixed furniture HomeLane.com, has raised Rs 28.3 crore ($4.5 million) in its Series A round of funding led by Sequoia Capital, a senior executive of the company told Techcircle.in. The round also saw participation from early stage investment firm Aarin Capital and existing promoter Growth Story led by entrepreneur couple K Ganesh and Meena.

"The funds will be used for expansion in 10 more cities by the end of the year. It will also be spent in technology enhancement and marketing campaigns," said Srikanth Iyer, co-founder and CEO, HomeLane. Currently operational only in Bangalore, the company plans to expand to Chennai and Hyderabad immediately, and thereafter to NCR and Pune, among other cities.

"Since we are an online player, most of our marketing will also happen online," added Iyer.

The development was first reported by The Times of India.

Currently the company has 100 employees. It also plans to double the headcount by the end of the year. The firm said it has bagged 40 customers in the last eight months. The average ticket size of its products is Rs 5 lakh.

The startup was formed in August 2014 by Iyer and Rama Harinath (CMO) along with K Ganesh and Meena. Iyer is ex-CEO of Pearson India and founder of Edurite. Harinath is an IIT-Chennai and IIM-Bangalore alumnus. The husband-wife duo are best known for setting up the education-cum-consumer internet services firm TutorVista Global Pvt Ltd and selling it to UK-based Pearson Plc in a $213 million deal.

They had rolled up assets of Bangalore-based offline design firm Bello Interiors Pvt Ltd and converted it into HomeLane, an online marketplace for fixed furniture. The portal sells furniture items such as wardrobes, TV cabinets, kitchen units and other home set-up solutions.

The startup mainly competes with FabFurnish and Urban Ladder. However, according to the company, it has no direct competition since FabFurnish and UrbanLadder sell loose furniture, while it sells fixed furniture.

Aarin Capital was founded by Ranjan Pai and Mohandas Pai of Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG).

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)