Furlenco, a subscription-based online rental furniture rental startup, has raised $140 million ( ₹1,000 crore) led by Zinnia Global Fund, in a mix of debt ( ₹850 crore) and equity ( ₹150 crore).
Existing investors Lightbox Ventures, CE-Ventures and angel investor Saket Burman also participated in this round.
With this new fund-raise, the company said it will cater to larger audiences with more tailored solutions and new offerings, expand to more cities and build its asset and subscriber base. As a rental company, it aims to increase its revenue by building new assets or furniture, which it designs and then give it to its 15 plus vendors for contract manufacturing.
India's rental furniture and appliance market, dominated by the likes of RentoMojo, Furlenco, Rentickle, and CityFurnish, is now worth Rs33,500 crore, management consultancy Redseer said in April.
As 43% of the urban population across top 20 cities contribute to over half of the total market, the industry is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11% by 2025.
“One of the primary reasons why we got this funding is the stability of a subscription business, unlike any regular consumer-facing business. In this, existing subscribers continued and we earned rent. We saw a blip in the second wave but in June, we again performed well. Our kind of business is reliant on long-term, low-cot debt to build our asset base,” said Ajith Mohan Karimpana, founder and CEO, Furlenco.
“…The funds we have raised will play a critical role in this journey and fuel our growth with investments and design. We know there is immense strength and scope of innovation in the B2C commerce space and the sectors we operate in,” he added.
"We are excited to partner with Furlenco, which is rapidly transforming furniture subscription services for India's lifestyle aspirants. As an industry leader with a strong management team, Furlenco is poised for continued strong growth” said Ritesh Abbi, Zinnia Global Fund.
Furlenco, which mainly offers furniture and home décor on rent, earlier this year raised ₹20 crore from venture debt firm BlackSoil Capital. Last year, it had raised around $10 million in debt and equity from Lightbox.
Karimpana said that the company remains operationally profitable but the focus now will be on growth and building its subscriber base. In the next financial year, it will focus on the profitability front.
“…With this raise, the company will step closer to closed-loop operations, and we hope their example helps to pave the way for other companies to embrace business models in which nothing becomes waste,” Sid Talwar from Lightbox Ventures said.
Tushar Singhvi, deputy CEO and head of investments at CE-Ventures, said, “…Capitalizing on the massive potential of the home market and the prospects of expansion to the Middle East region and beyond, we continue to support the company along its steady andpromising growth path, in its product innovation and through its sustainability efforts.”
Furlenco said it was able to preserve 95% of its revenue in 2020-21 and is now looking at scaling its annual revenue to ₹2,200 crore in the next 5 years. As a part of its expansion efforts, Furlenco recently announced its entry into Jaipur, Mysuru, and Ahmedabad, and is now looking to launch in more Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities.
UAE-based CE-Ventures led Furlenco’s Series C funding round of $17.5 million in 2019.
Other than furniture, Furlenco offers value-added services, where its customers can swap their furniture when they want. The startup assures a 72-hour free delivery, assembly, and set-up. Customers can also have their furniture relocated for free.
It also offers a host of appliances such as laptops, microwave ovens, LED televisions, washing machines, and has recently launched and expanded its services to renting two-wheelers, gaming consoles, entertainment and fitness equipment as well.
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