The round was led by Bessemer Ventures Partners and saw participation from Jungle Ventures and Helion. The funding comes within weeks of the launch of the firm’s Home Design Automation Platform for designers through which Livspace aims to create 30,000 design entrepreneurs in India over the next 18-24 months.
The funds will be used to launch the brand across Noida, Gurugram and Mumbai in 2016, and Pune and Hyderabad in the first half of 2017. It will also be used to set up new experience centres with augmented/virtual reality technologies, expand the design automation platform, and strengthen the catalogue and technology back-end.
Anuj Srivastava, CEO and Co-Founder, Livspace, told “We are pleased that Livspace is already profitable in Bengaluru. With this round of funding, we aim to reach a revenue of $100 million by the end of 2017 and achieve operational profitability across cities. We are setting up six experience centres of 4,000 sq ft each across Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi which will connect with our customers through experiential retail technologies inspired by companies such as Nike, Apple, Lowe’s and Warby Parker. Creating an omni-channel presence for customers is a huge opportunity for Livspace.”
Vishal Gupta, Managing Director, Bessemer Venture Partners, said “We are very impressed with the pioneering approach, traction, and commercial scale achieved by Livspace, in a short period of time. Livspace continues to see tremendous demand-side scale due to the recently announced Home Design Automation Platform.”
Founded by Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma, Livspace is home to a community of over 6,00,000 home design enthusiasts and home designers. Launched in December 2014, Livspace has raised $27.6 million since inception and has designed/furnished 150 homes in Bengaluru, 100 in Delhi and 40 in Mumbai.
Within the first year of its launch, it made three acquisitions — DezignUp, Dwll.in, YoFloor — and launched an exclusive line of modular kitchen and wardrobe systems. The company promises a beautiful home in less than 12 weeks and modular installations in eight weeks.
The home industry is estimated between $25-30 billion, but over 95 per cent of it is unorganised and serviced by turnkey contractors, small studios, freelance designers, and carpenters. Online furniture portals Pepperfry and Urban Ladder have also forayed into the home-design market. Pepperfry Bespoke, a design and consulting-led service, contributes to 10 per cent of its overall revenue, while Urban Interiors, a similar service launched by Urban Ladder in April, contributes to 12 per cent of its revenue.
Source: Business Line
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