Livspace appoints former Flipkart exec as marketing head

Online home décor startup Livspace has appointed former Flipkart executive Kartikeya Bhandari as its chief marketing officer (CMO).

The Bengaluru-based company said in a statement that Bhandari will lead its overall brand, marketing and demand generation efforts as part of his responsibilities.

“Kartikeya’s vast experience in online retail and marketing will help us accelerate our brand goals,” said Anuj Srivastava, chief executive officer and co-founder of Livspace.

An MBA graduate from the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta, Bhandari had worked with Walmart-owned Flipkart for almost five years. He had joined the company as the director of brand marketing in July 2014 and held the designation of senior director of marketing at the time of his exit last month, shows his LinkedIn profile.

Bhandari had also spent eight years at Nokia, serving as the consumer electronics giant’s global product marketing manager.

Livspace is one of the best-funded startups in the online home decor space. The company has raised more than $100 million in external funding till date from the likes of Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, TPG Growth, Bessemer Venture Partners, Helion Venture Partners, Jungle Ventures, Trifecta Capital and Brand Capital, among others.

Last September, parent Home Interior Designs E-commerce Pvt. Ltd had raised $70 million (Rs 500 crore then) in a Series C round led by TPG and Goldman Sachs.

The company was founded in 2012 by former Google and Myntra executives Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma respectively. It helps homeowners discover pre-created looks for rooms, kitchens and storage areas. Customers can select and purchase these looks, and personalise them for delivery on the basis of material, colour, style and so on. Users can also get tailor-made designs by visiting Livspace’s offline showrooms.

Livspace competes with a few other well-funded players like Urban Ladder and Pepperfry in the online home decor space.

In October last year, Pepperfry launched its home interior design solution service called Pepperfry Bespoke where customers can walk into their large-format stores and avail of free interior design solutions by experts, budget planning, false ceiling, plumbing, civil work, modular solutions, painting and electricals.

This move placed it in direct competition with Livspace and HomeLane.