Online home furnishings provider HomeLane on Thursday said it raised $10 million in a funding round led by Accel Partners.
RB Investments and existing investor Sequoia Capital India also invested in the latest round.
This takes the total investment raised by the start-up to $25 million—in the same range as its rival Livspace, backed by Bessemer Venture Partners and Jungle Ventures.
The deal follows Teabox, a tea brand, also raising a $7 million round led by RB Investments on Wednesday. The Singapore-based venture capital firm has been quick to grow its portfolio in India, which now comprises over two dozen start-ups.
For HomeLane, the latest round gives it resources to scale operations and aggressively target new customers. Started in Bengaluru, which is also its largest market, HomeLane has forayed to Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and the National Capital Region.
The funds will fuel HomeLane’s expansion in these markets, its co-founder and chief executive officer Srikanth Iyer said.
The announcement comes roughly a month after it spent Rs90 crore to acquire Capricoast.com, an online marketplace for home furnishings, to strengthen its product offering.
HomeLane provides end-to-end interior design solutions to customers. Users log onto HomeLane, engage with designers to choose designs and furniture best-suited to their needs and place the order.
Furnishings bought through HomeLane include modular kitchen setups, wardrobes and storage units, paintings and beds.
“We are a provider for giving fit-outs and interior design solutions to people who have just moved into a new apartment,” said Iyer. “At the back-end we have three partners: designers, manufacturers and installations partners, but HomeLane does the complete project management.”
Iyer said HomeLane, which started operations in 2014, has completed 1,700 installations. Each project is typically worth Rs6.5 lakh.
“Homeowners in India not only have a growing appetite for stylish interiors, they are also looking for affordable and hassle-free home furnishing experience. As a result, the market for organized players in the home designing space is opening up in India,” said Prashanth Prakash, a partner at Accel.
Iyer, who started HomeLane along with Rama Harinath, is a serial entrepreneur. He founded Edurite, an education technology start-up, which was sold to TutorVistas, which in turn was bought by publishing firm Pearson PLC. Iyer served as Pearson India CEO for over a year before launching HomeLane.
Source: Mint