Youtube And Gmail Founders Invest $5 Mn In Cityfurnish’s Series A Round

Online furniture and appliances renting company Cityfurnish has raised $5Mn from a group of investors including founder of Gmail Paul Buchheit, Youtube cofounder Steve Chen, and investment firms such as Global Founders Capital, Venture Highway, Soma Capital, SCM Advisors, and Boomerang Ventures. Other than this, a clutch of undisclosed high net worth individuals have also participated in this round. 

According to Cityfurnish’s cofounder Saurabh Gupta, the company will be use the funds to strengthen the company’s brand position, technology, and expansion into new cities.

Delhi NCR-based Cityfurnish was founded by Neerav Jain and Gupta in 2015. It rents furniture, furnishings and appliances through third-party partnerships. In 2016, the company had raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Brand Capital, the investment arm of conglomerate, Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. (Times Group). Existing investor Manoj Gupta, Director, Credit Suisse also participated in this round.

Prior to this, it had also raised another round of undisclosed seed amount from Citrus Pay’s cofounder Jitendra Gupta in 2015. Cityfurnish is currently operating in Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Pune. The company has now aimed to expand into in 14 Indian cities by 2020. Further, it is also launching a customised furniture subscription program, which will work on a pay-as-you-use model with limited commitments. 

India’s Furniture Rental Market

The overall furniture market in India is estimated to generate between $15 Bn to $24 Bn annually. The organised segment is around 8%-10% and, out of which around 15% is online.

Other startups operating in the furniture and appliances renting space include Accel Partners portfolio company RentMojo, Lightbox-backed Furlenco, GrabOnRent, and Flatfurnish.

Earlier in March, Bengaluru-based Furlenco has raised $5.84 Mn (INR 40.46 Cr) in a Series C funding round from Lightbox Ventures, Crescent Enterprises and others. With a total funding of $30.1 Mn (INR 195 Cr), Furlenco has been backed by investors such as Axis Capital, Kris Gopalakrishnan’s Pratithi Trust, and Trifecta Capital, among others.

While, Rentomojo has raised $17.1 Mn till now and has been backed by investors such as IDG Ventures and Accel Partners. The company claimed to have over 25,000 subscribers, as of July 2018.

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