Exclusive: Livspace Looks To Raise Fresh Funding From Pidilite

Update: June 22, 2020

According to Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings of Home Interior Designs E-commerce Private Limited, accessed by Inc42, the company has now received the financing in the bank.

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Bengaluru-based home design and decor service provider Livspace is looking to top up its reserves with fresh funding from Fevicol maker, Pidilite.

According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings of Home Interior Designs E-commerce Private Limited, accessed by Inc42, the company in a meeting on April 17, 2020, passed a resolution to raise fresh capital and also increase its authorized share capital.

The company said in its filings that it is looking to raise INR 18.64 Cr ($2.4 Mn) by issuing 932, 488 preference shares to Madhumala Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pidilite, at a face value of INR 100 with a premium of INR 100 per share.

It said that “in order to meet its growth objectives and to strengthen its financial position,” the company is “contemplating generation of long-term resources by offering Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (“CCPS”) on a private placement basis.”

Interestingly, Livspace is the third such investment by Pidilite. Prior to this, Pidilite led a $40 Mn funding round in Mumbai-based online furniture and home products marketplace Pepperfry. Further, it led $30 Mn Series D funding round in Bengaluru-based online home furnishing startup HomeLane with Evolvence India Fund (EIF) and FJ Labs, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners and JSW Ventures.

The company founded in 2014 by Anuj Srivastava, Ramakant Sharma and Shagufta Anurag offers end-to-end home design experience for homeowners and home designers. Livspace Group has three entities – Home interior, e-homemaker and Livspace Pte.

The company has earlier raised $157.6 Mn in funding from investors such as US-based venture capital firm TPG Growth, Goldman Sachs, Jungle Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Helion Ventures as well as furniture retailer IKEA. It was said to be on its way to join the unicorn club with its Series D funding.

Livspace target audience includes couples and affluent families with working professionals who have bought a new home or have existing homes with property values ranging between INR 40 lakhs and INR 4 Cr.

By connecting vendors and designers to homeowners, the platform is acting as a marketplace for home design. It charges a commission or margin fee for all transactions, which range from INR 1 Lakh to over INR 50 Lakh.

The company earlier told Inc42 that on a consolidated basis, its revenue for FY19 was INR 191 Cr, with expenses of INR 349 Cr leading to losses of INR 158 Cr. In context, for FY18, the company’s consolidated revenue was INR 105 Cr, with expenses of INR 206 Cr and losses of INR 101 Cr.

As part of their future growth, Livspace is looking at leveraging omnichannel presence with expansions both in the Indian as well as international markets.