Home interiors and renovation platform Livspace said on Monday that Ingka Investments, the investment arm of the Ingka Group, has made a minority investment in the company.

While Livspace did not disclose the amount invested, the company’s co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Ramakant Sharma told BusinessLine the “strategic investment” will explore the complementary synergies between the two companies.

The Ingka Group is a strategic partner in the IKEA franchise, representing 90 per cent of total IKEA retail sales through 367 stores in 30 markets, including India. “We began conversations with Ingka a month after we closed the Series C funding of $70 million last September. This strategic partnership will allow Livspace to transform from a home design platform to a real estate renovation platform that goes beyond home to commercial spaces in the near future,” said Sharma. He added: “We will collaborate in areas such as catalogue and marketplace integration, which will give us access to IKEA’s customers, and we will give IKEA access to our deep technology platform.”

Livspace exited March 2019 with an annual sales run rate of over $130 million and expects to close fiscal 2020 with $280 - $300 million. He said that the top seven metro cities alone represent a $20-$25 billion market for home design and renovation solutions.

Krister Mattsson, Head of Ingka Investments, Ingka Group, said: “Convenience and personalisation are becoming increasingly important to the future of home furnishing, and Livspace has created a digital platform that has the potential to transform a customer’s home furnishing journey.”

 

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