HomeLane raises $50 Mn in Series E funding

Online home interior design platform, HomeLane said it has scooped up Rs 371 crore or $50 million in its Series E round led by IIFL AMC’s Late Stage Tech Fund, Oman India Joint Investment Fund and Stride Ventures. Existing investors Pidilite, Evolvence, NuVentures, Sequoia and Accel also participated in this round. 

Over the last seven years, HomeLane has raised more than Rs 765 crore or $104 million. The company said it will utilise the funds for strategic expansion into newer markets and ramp up technology as it eyes revenue targets of Rs 2,500 crore by FY24. 

Floated by Srikanth Iyer, Rama Harinath along with K Ganesh and Meena Ganesh, HomeLane helps property owners furnish and install fixtures in their new apartments and houses. HomeLane currently services 16 cities across the country through 27 experience centres.

HomeLane claims Rs 268 Cr revenue in FY21 

In FY21, the company claims to have recorded a revenue of Rs 268 crore, up by 16% over last year and exited the fiscal with an order book of Rs 820 crore. HomeLane said it expanded its presence from 10 cities in FY20 to 16 cities in FY21 and that it expects to generate revenues of Rs 423 crore and hit EBITDA profitability in FY22. 

It recorded cash profitability in November 2020, HomeLane said.

The company claimed that it managed to pare its business losses significantly from a -36% EBITDA margin in FY20 to a -21% margin for the year ending 31 March 2021. Although it is worth pointing out that last year, HomeLane had said it was expecting to reach closer to EBITDA breakeven by April 2021.

Importantly, HomeLane is yet to file annual financial statements for FY21.

According to the company,  its revenues increased in the last fiscal owing to a growing consumer demand for branded interior services, reduction in fixed costs, increase in average order value, and bundling of supplementary services with its home interior offerings. 

Competition and major actions in furniture rental space

On the competition front, HomeLane competes directly with Livspace and Flipspaces along with UrbanLadder and Pepperfry. Just this week, Flipspaces raised $2 million in its pre-Series B round led by a consortium led by Prashasta Seth, ex-chief executive officer, IIFL AMC. 

One of the early evangelizers of the online furniture and rental space, UrbanLadder was acquired by Reliance for Rs 182 crore in November 2020 in a distress sale. 

LivSpace had raised $90 million in its Series D round in September 2020 which was followed by Rs 30 crore in a debt funding round from its existing backer Trifecta Venture Debt a month later. 

Pepperfry received Rs 35 crore in a debt funding round by InnoVen Capital in February this year and was last valued at around $462 million following a Series F funding round worth $40 million led by Pidilite Industries in February 2020.