Homevista Decor and Furnishing Pvt. Ltd, which owns and operates online furniture marketplace HomeLane, has raised $10 million (Rs 64 crore) from venture capital firms Accel Partners, Sequoia Capital and RB Investments.
The Bangalore-based company will use the funds to fuel expansion, strengthen technology innovation and operations, it said in a statement on Thursday.
The company also claimed that it has reached operational profitability and is close to breaking even.
HomeLane co-founder and chief executive Srikanth Iyer said the company’s aim is to simplify and streamline the process of home designing and furnishing for urban Indian home buyers. He added that the investment from Accel and Sequoia, two of India’s largest VC funds, is a shot in the arm for the company.
Prashanth Prakash, partner at Accel Partners, said the market for organised home designing players is opening up in India as homeowners’ appetite for stylish interiors grows and they look for a hassle-free buying experience.
GV Ravishankar, managing Director at Sequoia Capital, said: “HomeLane, with its disruptive technology-enabled product has successfully challenged the massive unorganised home furnishing industry and has convincingly grown its business since inception with very high net promoter score.â€
HomeLane was formed in August 2014 by Iyer and Rama Harinath (CMO) along with the husband-wife duo of K Ganesh and Meena Ganesh. Iyer is a former CEO of Pearson India and founder of Edurite. Harinath is an IIT-Chennai and IIM-Bangalore alumnus. The entrepreneur couple is best known for setting up the education-cum-consumer Internet services firm TutorVista Global Pvt Ltd and selling it to UK-based Pearson Plc for $213 million.
The founders had rolled up assets of Bangalore-based offline design firm Bello Interiors Pvt. Ltd and converted it into HomeLane, an online marketplace for fixed furniture.
HomeLane offers a virtual design platform and a real-time integrated pricing engine. The startup allows homebuyers to select from hundreds of kitchen, wardrobe or wall unit combinations with different layouts, designs, colours and finishes. After homebuyers place orders, interior designers from HomeLane work with them to help customise the kitchen or wardrobe according to the apartment space.
In 2015, HomeLane had raised Rs 28.3 crore ($4.5 million) in its Series A round of funding led by Sequoia Capital. The round also saw participation from early-stage investment firm Aarin Capital.
In a recent interview to VCCircle, Iyer had said that he was aiming to double the company’s revenue run rate in a year’s time.
Last month, HomeLane acquired online home interiors marketplace Capricoast for Rs 90 crore. Along with the acquisition, HomeLane launched its operations in the national capital region, the fifth city after Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai. The company also plans to set up an experience centre in Gurgaon within two months.
