Interior design startup Livspace lands $90 mn to fund expansion plans

Home Interior Designs E-Commerce, the parent entity of online home decor startup Livspace, has raised $90 million in a growth funding round led by Swiss private equity firm Kharis Capital and Singapore headquartered investment firm Venturi Partners.

New investors, including French investment company FFP, Peugeot Group’s holding company and Singapore-based global fund EDBI participated in the Series D funding round, a statement said. 

They were joined by returning investors Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group that runs Swedish furniture giant IKEA; TPG Growth, the mid-market and growth equity platform of private equity firm TPG; investment banking giant Goldman Sachs; Ratan Tata's UC-RNT Fund; and venture capital firm Bessemer Ventures.

The company said it will use the fresh funds for market expansion, further development of its technology platform and expansion of its supply chain. The capital will also fund the creation of new market offerings and private labels for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, the statement said.

In India, Livspace currently has operations in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Mumbai, Thane and Pune, and looks to enter Lucknow, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. 

Globally, the company said it is evaluating a foray into countries such as Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia in the APAC region, along with the Middle East. It entered the Singapore market in October 2019.

Founded in 2012 by former Google and Myntra executives Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma, the firm brings together homeowners, studios as well as vendors and brands on a single platform. It allows homeowners to discover pre-created designs and personalise them for delivery on the basis of material, colour and style. Customers can also get tailor-made designs by visiting Livspace’s offline showrooms.

The company claims to have achieved a gross revenue run rate of over $200 million in February 2020 and expects to grow into a $500 million business in the next 24-30 months. The Bengaluru-based firm expects its India operations to hit profitability in 2021. It claims to have designed over 20,000 homes so far.

“Livspace has done two things uniquely: first, digitisation of large and complex home improvement industry verticals, and second, integration of tens of thousands of contractors, designers and home improvement professionals as well as the largest brands and OEMs in this space. This playbook has helped us expand rapidly and efficiently across markets,” co-founder Sharma said.

This year, the company raised $2.46 million from Pidilite Group in April and $115,417 from UC-RNT in March, according to VCCEdge data.

In May 2019, Livspace raised an undisclosed amount from Ingka Investments. In September 2018, it raised $70 million in a round led by TPG Growth and Goldman Sachs. 

According to the company, it has raised over $200 million till date.

Livspace is one of the heavily funded startups in the online home decor space. It competes with interior design solutions marketplace HomeLane, which raised a $8.1 million bridge funding round on Monday. The firm has raised over $50 million in the past six years. Pidilite is a common investor in HomeLane and Livspace.

Design Café, another significant player in the segment, raised about $3.6 million in an internal funding round from WestBridge Capital and Fireside Ventures in June.  The company has raised $32.24 million so far.

Home furnishing and designing platforms Pepperfry and Urban Ladder have a significant presence in this segment, besides a handful of other startups such as Infurnia, Spacejoy, Bonito, Flipspaces, MyGubbi and Houssup.