 "Online furniture seller Urban Ladder raises Rs 120 cr in second round of funding")
The money continues to flow into India’s burgeoning e-commerce sector, with homegrown online furniture vendor Urban Ladder being the latest beneficiary of investor funds.
According to multiple reports, Urban Ladder raised Rs 120 crore in second round of funding from a consortium led by Hong Kong-based Steadview Capital. Incumbent investors SAIF Partners and Kalaari Capital also participated in the fundraising round.
Urban Ladder was launched in July 2012 by IIT and IIM graduatesAshish Goel and Rajeev Srivatsa and provides furniture solutions in seven Indian cities. The website offers over 1,000 products across 25 furniture categories like wardrobes, beds and dining tables. It plans to further expand the product range and service to 25-30 cities in India by March 2015.
In August 2012, the online furniture vendor had raised $1 million from Kalaari Capital and then $5 million led by SAIF Partners in November 2013.
The recently raised funds will primarily be used to bring in new talent and strengthen the existing team, according to news reports. _Business Standard_has quoted Srivatsa as saying that Urban Ladder plans on doubling its employee roll over the next six months.
The _Times of India_reports that the company is looking to expand beyond plain furniture, with the launch of UL Labs.
Goel explained the concept to ToI, saying,“We want to make that transition from selling products to offering technology-driven, user-curated solutions to make spaces more beautiful for home owners. It’s like an R&D team that we have set up to give customers more than just products.”
According to _ Livemint,_Ravi Mehta, managing director at Steadview Capital said, “Furniture is a highly fragmented and unorganized space, and we believe Urban Ladder is well positioned to leverage technology in order to become the leading furniture company in India.”
Steadview Capitalhas invested in companies like Jubliant Foodworks, Shriram City Union and Olacabs.
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