Livspace has closed a USD70 million Series C funding round led by global investment funds TPG Growth and Goldman Sachs, with participation from existing investors Jungle Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Helion Ventures.
The deal marks the largest Series C round ever raised by a B2C vertical e-commerce company in India.
Launched in 2015 by consumer-Internet industry veterans Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma, Livspace is one of the fastest-growing, consumer-facing Internet companies in India. In little over three years, Livspace has emerged as a key player in India’s home interiors and renovation market, which is expected to top USD23 billion by 2022. Globally, the market is worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Over the last 18 months, Livspace’s gross revenue has more than quadrupled and, the company also achieved unit-economics profitability across its previously launched markets.
Livspace’s Co-founder and CEO Anuj Srivastava believes that the support from some the world’s best-known investors in this round will help propel Livspace to its next phase of growth.
“Our vision is to reshape the way people design and renovate their homes all over the world,” says Srivastava. “In an industry that has traditionally struggled with scale, we’ve created a first-of-its-kind, design-to-installation technology platform and a marketplace model that is highly scalable. We are thrilled to have TPG Growth and Goldman Sachs with us in our journey. Their understanding of global markets and deep expertise in accelerating growth-stage companies will help us take Livspace to the next stage of its journey.”
The company also boasts the region’s biggest seller community in this industry: it attracted applications from 25,000 interior designers and small design studios, 10 per cent of which are now certified partners. Livspace services seven major metro areas in India where it delivers interiors, including kitchens, walk-in closets, furniture, decor and provides all contracting services from flooring and false ceilings to painting. Operating at an unprecedented scale, the company completes a home interior project every two hours.
Livspace will utilise the funds to expand its operations to six more Indian metro areas by 2019 for a total of 13, while achieving deeper penetration in existing markets. Livspace began operations in Hyderabad in August and is on track to hit over USD125-135 million in annualised gross revenue by March 2019.
To fuel its expansion efforts, the firm plans to grow its offline footprint through Livspace Design Centers, the company’s experiential stores that play a key role in its omnichannel strategy. In addition, the company will continue to invest in the growth of its design partner community, which includes interior designers and small design studios, as well as its vendor community which comprises brands, contractors and service partners. On the product side, new home interior solutions and products, together with new technology innovations, are planned for both homeowners and design partners. They will be delivered through Livspace’s proprietary design-to-installation platform, Canvas.
“India is a rapidly growing economy, and as its middle class expands, there is a greater appetite among consumers to upgrade and improve their homes,” says Bill McGlashan, Founder and Managing Partner at TPG Growth. “Livspace has emerged as India’s top player in the home interiors and improvement space, and we look forward to working with Anuj and his team to bring this innovative service to more consumers across the country,” he added.
“Livspace is an innovative and fast-growing South Asia B2C Internet company led by an excellent management team,” says Jonathan Vanica, a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs. “We feel the company’s platform approach, which integrates products and services while leveraging technology to provide customized consumer solutions, has allowed it to become a leading brand in the Indian home improvement ecosystem.”