An exciting home renovation startup announced the seventh unicorn startup of the year 2022
We are just 10 days into February 2022 and we are talking about the seventh unicorn startup of the year. It indeed is a good and an amazing sign.
Let us talk about unicorn startups. Explaining what a unicorn startup is, it is a privately owned startup the value of which is more than USD 1 billion. This term for the first time was given by Aileen Lee, who is the venture capitalist and the founder of the startup Cowboy Ventures. The term unicorn was given because of the reason that such startups were very scarce and very few of them were available at that time.
I recently came across a unicorn startup checklist which I found out to be quite interesting. The list says as follows-
The first step is to identify a problem the users are facing and then find and propose a solution for the same.
The target market should be large and homogenous.
Then create the MVP of the product and should include only the important and necessary features.
Test the MVP made with the users and get feedback.
Make the required changes in the MVP based on the feedback.
Finally, build and launch the product.
The startup reaching a unicorn status is crossing one milestone in the long life ahead. It requires the right idea, at the right time, with the right amount of investment and hard work that makes it possible.
Let us now talk about the home renovation startup that has recently gained the status of a unicorn.
Announcement of a new unicorn home renovation startup
The startup, Livspace has raised funds worth USD 180 million, as announced on February 08, 2022. This round of funding that we are talking about was the late-stage round of funding and was led by KKR and Co. The other participants of this round of funding were Ikea, which is the Swedish retailer, Jungle Ventures, Venturi Partners, and Peugeot Investments.
The startup plans to use the funds raised in expanding its business outside the country (overseas). The startup also has plans to utilize a portion of the funds raised in strengthening its presence in the core and main markets like our country India and also to expand and widen its product offerings.
The total funds raised by the home renovation startup after this round of funding have increased to USD 450 million. The value of the startup after this round of funding has been USD 1.2 billion, thus crossing the USD 1 billion mark, and entering the famous “Unicorn Club”. The startup is the seventh Indian unicorn startup of the year 2022 and the 86th unicorn startup of the year.
About the newly turned unicorn home renovation startup
The startup, Livspace was founded in the year 2014 by Ramakant Sharma and Anuj Srivastava and has its headquarters in India in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Bengaluru is regarded as the Silicon Valley of India. The main headquarters of the startup is in Singapore. The startup is a home interior and renovation company that has its focus on providing interior design and renovation services.
This home renovation startup started its operations in Singapore in the month of October 2019 and then it came into partnership with IKEA in Singapore in order to provide renovation services. The startup started its operations in India in the year 2014. The startup has two services to offer to its customers- Livdspace Select which is for modular products, and Livspace Vesta for the full home interiors.
In the country, the startup is operational in the following cities- Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Mysore, Noida, Pune, Surat, Thane, Vijayawada, and Vishakhapatnam. The startup has 22 experience centers with the largest one being at Marathahalli, Bengaluru.
Talking about the previous fundings of the home renovation startup, they are as follows-
In December 2014, the startup raised USD 4.6 million in a Series A round of funding. The investors in that round were Helion Venture Partners, Jungle Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners.
In August 2015, the startup raised USD 8 million in its Series A extension round of funding. The investors in that round of funding were Helion Venture Partners, Jungle Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners.
In August 2016, the startup raised USD 15 million in a Series B round of funding. The investor in that round of funding was Bessemer Venture Partners.
In the year 2018, the startup raised an extra USD 6 million as part of the Series B round of funding.
In the year 2018, the startup raised USD 70 million in its Series C round of funding. The investors in that round of funding were TPG Growth, Goldman Sachs, and other existing investors.
In the year 2020, the startup completed its Series D round of funding. The investors in that round of funding were Kharis Capital, Tahoe Investment Group, and Venturi Partners.
Talking about the awards and recognitions received by the startup, they are as follows-
The startup was one of the most innovative companies in the world, 2017. This list was curated by American technology, business, and design magazine, Fast Company.
The startup was one of the winners of the Red Herring Top Global 2018 award. This award was presented by a technology-business magazine, Red Herring.
The co-founder of the startup Ramakant Sharma in the year 2017 was awarded the title of Hottest Young Entrepreneurs by BW BusinessWorld.
The startup in the year 2020 has won the Design Excellence Award (Silver) for Best Residential Design.
The startup has renovated more than 35000 houses, has more than 1500 expert designers, and is present in 4 countries and 32 cities. The investors of the startup are Venturi, TPG, Goldman Sachs, Kharis Capital, FFP, Helion, Jungle ventures, UC-RNT Fund, Edbi, and Pidilite. The startup predicts that in the next 24-36 months, its revenue will increase ten times.
The home renovation startup has something very different to offer. We wish the startup a bit of good luck and hope it has an amazing, beautiful, and shining future ahead!
Edited and published by Ashlyn Joy