Online furniture rental startup Furlenco raises $30 mn from VCs, debt funding

Bangalore-based online furniture rental startup Furlenco has raised $15 million (Rs 100 crore) in its Series B round of funding led by existing investor Lightbox Ventures along with Axis Capital Partners, a Hong Kong-based venture capital fund.

A few high-net-worth individuals too participated in the funding round.

The company also raised $15 million in debt, it said in a statement.

VCCircle had first reported that Furlenco is raising a new round of investment from existing investor Lightbox and others. The funds raised will be used for expansion to newer categories, product ranges and more cities in the next one year.

"This fresh funding is a testament to Furlenco's unit economics and growing operational cash flow. Furlenco's differentiation lies in its design philosophy, customer experience and technology," said Ajith Mohan Karimpana, founder of Furlenco. Furlenco, run by Kieraya Furnishing Solutions Pvt. Ltd, had earlier raised $6 million (Rs 38 crore) in a Series A round of funding from Lightbox.

The firm was founded in 2012 by Karimpana, a former vice president at Goldman Sachs. Karimpana holds an MS in computer and information science from Temple University (US).

The venture was running operations under Rent Ur Duniya but later re-branded as Furlenco in 2013.

Players in the online furniture rental sector include Cityfurnish, Rentomojo and Rentsher, among others.

In November last year, Bengaluru-based Edunetwork Pvt. Ltd, the company behind home appliances and furniture rental marketplace Rentomojo, raised $2 million (Rs 13 crore) in pre-Series A funding from Accel Partners and IDG Ventures India. Seven months later, it raised around Rs 33.5 crore ($5 million) from existing investors.