Accel invests $1 mn in e-interior design startup Spacejoy

Palo Alto, California-based venture capital firm Accel, formerly known as Accel Partners, has invested $1 million of seed capital in interiors solution startup Spacejoy. 

The online interior design-as-a-service startup, which has offices in Bengaluru and San Francisco Bay Area, will use the funds to expand its sales and marketing efforts, hire talent in the United States and work on its product development, Spacejoy said in a statement on Thursday. 

Spacejoy offers an interactive 3D platform where users can design and visualise interiors of their homes digitally — a do-it-yourself approach. Users can also get inputs from designer experts and home stylists.

"Visualising furniture from an offline/online catalog in the context of their rooms is a huge challenge. Hence, about 40% of consumers deter from committing to redecorating their homes,” Vinay Indresh, a co-founder at Spacejoy said.

Spacejoy was founded by former Flipkart executive Indresh and former Myntra executive Arnab Saharoy. The National Institute of Technology-Warangal alum duo also founded Homefuly in 2016, a startup that once catered similar interior design and furniture solutions online in India.

“Spacejoy's technology not only enables the consumer to visualise their home in real-time but can also source featured furniture and decor elements through partners,” Subrata Mitra, partner at Accel said. The global interior design market is huge - with the US being a large market by itself, home furnishing market size is close to $200 billion, Mitra added.

In February, Accel had helped another home interior startup, HomeLane, raise $4.6 million in a funding round. HomeLane competes with interiors service Livspace.

Early-stage investor Accel’s previous Indian investments include online jewellers BlueStone, ticketing service BookMyShow, fitness platform CureFit, e-commerce platform Flipkart, ride-hailing app Ola, food delivery app Swiggy, and home, beauty service UrbanClap.