Kolo App Pte Ltd, which runs the home design community app Kolo Tuesday said it has raised $4 million (around Rs 31 crore) from global venture capital firm RTP Global and existing British investor Better Capital.
The Singapore-headquartered startup plans to deploy the fresh capital to boost growth and enhance consumer side product offerings such as the content-recommendation engine, the community offering, digital portfolio and tools for professionals. It also plans to expand Kolo's presence across India.
Founded in 2020 by Southeast Asian unicorn GoJek's former executives- Jery Althaf, Pranav Garg, Aayush Sharda and Vivek Mittal, Kolo is a content-community mobile app for homeowners to build their homes and enable construction providers and brands to create a digital presence and receive opportunities from homeowners.
Through the Kolo app, users can discover interior design ideas, search for specific home designs and house plans, connect with professionals and ask queries. The app currently provides more than 20 designs across different sections of a home from prayer areas to electrical designs.
“There are two key consumer behaviour trends that drive our growth. Firstly, consumers want to be involved in their renovation projects given the amount of money they spend and since the decision has a lasting impact on how they live. Previously, they didn’t have avenues to learn about the choices except for their immediate relatives or friends. Secondly, the influence of media in driving transaction decisions. From coming up with suggestions, to choosing the service providers based on photos/videos to learning about different roofing options they have, content informs and provides transparency hence putting the power in the hands of the consumer," said Althaf.
Last year, the startup raised $550,000 (approximately Rs 4 crore) in its seed funding round from Better Capital and Singularity Ventures, among other investors.
RTP Global is a venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology investments and has invested in more than 100 companies founded across Europe, Asia and North America. Six early-stage investments became multi-billion public companies including Datadog and Delivery Hero. RTP Global has offices in London, Bengaluru and New York.
Last month, VCCircle reported, RTP backed a $25 million Series B round for edtech player Newton School. The investment in Kolo is the first one the VC company has made in the home interior space this year. The company has investments in other names like Mesh, DataMilk, Skael, Appboxo, Beam, Bijak, ClassPlus, among others.
“We believe that home renovation is a long process and consumers want to play an active role in decision making. While on the other hand service providers have found it hard to showcase their work to prospective homeowners. Kolo solves this problem with its content to commerce model. The market needs to be coupled with the founders' vision and execution made it a no-brainer for us to invest in Kolo,” said Madhur Makkar of RTP Global.
