Livspace Tap Into Unicorn Club With KKR-Led $180 Mn Round
The home renovation and interior industry are on the boom as Livspace, the country’s leading home interior company, has officially entered into the unicorn club by raising $180 million led by KKR & Co, the American investment giant. The funding round is led by KKR Co and participated by Swedish retail giant Ikea, Jungle Ventures, Venturi Partners, and Peugeot Investments. The budget will allow the company to expand its business across international and domestic expansions.
Earlier, the French multinational Saint-Gobain acquired a minority stake in Livspace.
Livspace, the home renovation and interior company has raised a $180 million funding round that puts the company’s valuation over the billion-dollar mark.
Anuj Srivastava, CEO and co-founder, said, “The company hopes to replicate its India playbook in the expanding markets including Asia Pacific, Middle East, North Africa, and Australia.”
The latest round comes after the first round of $90 million raised about 15 months in Series D in September 2020, led by Switzerland-based investment firm Kharis Capital and consumer space-focused Venturi Partners.
However, the company faced hard times during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the company had to lay off 450 employees. Livspace used the funds to rejig the supply chain to tap new markets. The company also launched significant marketing campaigns with ads across formats. Going forward, the company today focuses majorly on Neo, a
proprietary design, manufacturing, and installation platform built around modular solutions.
To grow its Neo plan, the company will onboard over 2500 ecosystem partners, including franchisees, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), modular furniture, kitchen and wardrobe brands, and other related players in 2022.
The Company Story
The company was started by Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma in 2014 as a curated marketplace to provide an end-to-end home design experience. The company’s online marketplace enabled software tools to help designers and homeowners design interiors.
The recent investment will help Livspace to boost across nine metro cities and claims to have designed more than 20,000 homes. According to company officials, the company will enter into 80 markets with a sharp focus on the Middle East. The company has a joint venture with Alsulaiman Group to make inroads into the ME market.
The company is headquartered in Bengaluru and is soon picking up the Indian market in the segment of home redesigns, interior design, and custom furniture.