Home interior solutions startup Design Café secures $ 25 million in funding
The funding was led by existing investors WestBridge Capital and joined by Sixth Sense Ventures, the company said.
The first investor Fireside Ventures also participated in the round with a few family offices.
This brings his total Series B funding to Rs 366 crore, including Rs 200 crore which he raised in 2018.
The company said it would use the funding for expansion into new cities. It plans to be present in the top 10 cities over the next 18 months.
Founded in 2015 by Gita Ramanan and Shezan Bhojani, Design Café has a vertically integrated business model, with its own designers, own workforce, and a factory in Bangalore manufacturing all of its products.
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It is currently operating in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad, with new centers expected to be launched in Chennai and Thane. “The company is also planning to open more experience centers in Bengaluru,” she said in a statement.
“The funds will allow us to bring our services and products to more markets and to invest more in technology and people,” said Managing Director Bhojani.
Design Café is on the verge of breaking even and its annual income rate is around Rs 180 crore, he said.
The company plans to increase its gross annual booking rate to Rs 600-Rs 700 crore over the next 24 months. Much of that, the company said, will come from growing the home segment, which it says may represent a billion dollar opportunity.
“We believe that interior design and home improvement represents a very big opportunity in India and that the problem that Design Cafe is tackling is a real need of consumers today,” said Sandeep Singhal, co-founder and Managing Director of WestBridge Capital.
Home improvement and design is a $ 20 billion industry that is completely fragmented and unorganized in India.
Profitability in this industry has always been a challenge, but Design Cafe’s increased focus on standardized modular furniture, vertically integrated manufacturing, and a full-battery technology platform, will allow the company to save money. ‘scale,’ said Nikhil Vora, founder and CEO of Sixth Sense Ventures.