Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan makes loan to furniture rental platform RentoMojo

RentoMojo has raised Rs 6 crore ($860,000 at current exchange rate) debt from information technology firm Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, said the furniture rental platform’s filings with the companies’ registrar.

Gopalakrishnan invested the money through his family office Pratithi Investment Trust.

RentoMojo declined to comment.

Gopalakrishnan, who also leads early-stage investment firm Axilor Ventures along with Infosys co-founder SD Shibulal, has been an active angel investor over the past few years. He has invested in companies including health and fitness platform CureFit, analytics startup Crayon Data, baby products retailer FirstCry and electric bike maker Ampere Vehicles.

RentoMojo, operated and owned by Bengaluru-based Edunetwork Pvt. Ltd, was founded in November 2014 by Indian Institute of Technology, Madras graduates Geetansh Bamania and Ajay Nain.

The startup allows users to rent furniture, home furnishings, appliances and motorbikes. The company has plans to introduce newer categories in the coming months.

RentoMojo offers its services in Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Chennai and Hyderabad, and claims to have more than 25,000 subscribers. Earlier this month, the company had raised up to Rs 77 crore from venture capital firms Chiratae Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures India) and Accel, and previous investors Bain Capital Ventures and Japanese venture firm GMO VP.

Before this, RentoMojo raised $10 million in a Series B round in 2017. In 2016, it had raised $2 million in a pre-Series A round from Accel and Chiratae Ventures (then IDG Ventures India).

RentoMojo competes with the likes of Furlenco, RentOnGo and GrabOnRent.

Furlenco, which is owned and run by Kieraya Furnishing Solutions Pvt. Ltd, had raised Rs 80-85 crore in a Series C round of funding.