SUMMARY
The Home Interiors Firm Aims To Double Revenues And Become Profitable In 2018
Bengaluru-based online home interiors HomeLane has raised $10 Mn funding from Accel Partners, Sequoia Capital and RB Investments. The startup will deploy the funds to fuel growth and technology innovation to attract customers and designers alike, while also strengthening its operations in existing markets in the country.
Commenting on the funding, G V Ravishankar, MD, Sequoia Capital stated, “We are seeing tremendous demand for cost-effective and time-saving home design and furnishing solutions. HomeLane, with its disruptive technology-enabled product, has successfully challenged the massive unorganized home furnishing industry and has convincingly grown its business since inception with very high NPS. We believe they have huge growth potential and Sequoia is glad to be an early investor and partner in their journey.”
With over 100 new orders per month, the company aims to double its revenues by 2018. SpaceCraft, HomeLane’s virtual design platform has been a key factor in the company’s growth.
Prashanth Prakash, Partner, Accel Partners said, “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. HomeLane, with its focus on customer experience, across discovery, designing and timely delivery, is well positioned to capture a significant share of this market. We are glad to partner with them and look forward to scripting a big success story together.”
Founded by Rama Harinath and Srikanth Iyer in 2014, the home furnishing provider HomeLane offers home interiors consultancy and customised solutions. The startup offers its services in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi-NCR.
Prior to the latest round, the home furnishing company had raised about $15 Mn in venture funding from marquee investors like Sequoia Capital, Aarin, Growth Story and Baring PE. In February 2015, HomeLane had secured $4.5 Mn funding from Sequoia Capital, Mohandas Pai and Ranjan Pai. In June of the same year, it had reportedly closed $50 Mn in a series B round to be co-led by Sequoia Capital.
Speaking about the newly-secured funding from Accel Partners, Sequoia Capital and RB Investments, Srikanth Iyer, cofounder and CEO of HomeLane said, “HomeLane’s strategic focus has always been to simplify and streamline the process of home designing and furnishing for urban Indian home buyers. This strategy’s success, combined with this funding round has put us in a formidable position to scale up and capture a larger share of the home design market in all key cities of India. Also, having two of India’s largest VC funds supporting us is a shot in the arm for our mission to deliver well-designed homes at scale in the country.”
Last month, HomeLane had acquired Capricoast for $13.8 Mn (INR 90 Cr).
After witnessing huge downturn in 2010-2012 owing to the global economic slowdown, real estate has slowly gained the momentum in the last few years. While real estate sector growing at a CAGR of 11.2% is set to hit $180 Bn mark, architectural and Interior design section have been lagging behind in numerical terms, design domains and design interface. With startups like HomeLane, Urban Ladder, LivSpace, Pepperfry and FabFurnish mushrooming in the real estate landscape, suffice to say that Interiors stake in the real estate is set to increase in the near future.
