Virtual interior designer platform HomeLane on-boards Schneider Electric's Easy Homes solutions

French electrical equipment maker Schneider Electric has partnered with digital interior designing brand HomeLane to offer its internet-of-things (IoT) solution Easy Homes for the latter’s platform.

Easy Homes, which allows users to remotely control home power consumption through an app, will be offered at Homevista Décor and Furnishing-owned HomeLane experience centres. The IoT solution can be installed in the existing home infrastructure and operated through Alexa or Google Home, a smartphone, a remote and physical switches.

The two entities look to target two million smart homes, including old and heritage homes, in addition to newly-constructed residences, a statement said.

Schneider Electric and HomeLane expect the Indian home automation market to grow exponentially in the next five years.

“We see a growing latent demand for home automation solutions among our customer base. The plug-and-play feature of Easy Homes solution makes home automation and future upgrades possible for all,” Srikanth Iyer, founder and CEO of HomeLane, said.

Founded in 2014 by Iyer and Rama Harinath, HomeLane is a virtual design platform with an integrated pricing engine that offers home buyers several layouts designs, colours and finishes of kitchen and wall-unit combinations. The startup, which has 18 experience centres with operations in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, NCR, Kolkata and Pune, claims to have completed over 7,000 projects so far.

Since inception, HomeLane has raised $46 million in funding. In December last year, it raised $30 million in a growth round led by Evolvence India Fund (EIF), Pidilite Group and FJ Labs, along with venture capital companies Sequoia Capital India, Accel and JSW Ventures.

HomeLane competes with Livspace, Infurina, Spacejoy, Bonito, Flipspaces, MyGubbi and Houssup, as well as omni-channel furniture players such as Pepperfry and UrbanLadder. Ecommerce majors such as Flipkart and Amazon also offer similar services.