Furnishing a new buying experience

Last updated : January 23, 2019 7:40 pm

With good visual merchandising, Urban Ladder has managed to take a new category online

Ashish Goel and Rajiv Srivatsa were neighbours at the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore. Three years ago, when the duo decided to settle in Bangalore, they bought apartments next to each other. But they had a tough time furnishing these: After a furniture store did a pathetic job, they were forced to cancel the order. For 14-15 months, Goel's family slept on mattresses on the floor.

The duo, which was considering venturing into e-commerce, zeroed on furniture. In July 2012, they founded Urban Ladder, a furniture marketplace. "There was a need for aesthetically good, quality furniture and dependable customer service, at reasonable prices. That solution just did not exist," says Goel. "The range was limited, the designs weren't good, or the vendors were not dependable."

Recently, the start-up raised $5 million in the second round of funding from Saif Partners. In May 2012, it had raised $1 million in angel funding from Kalaari Capital. "It was customer experience, positive word-of-mouth reaction and a strong team that got us excited about Urban Ladder," said Deepak Gaur, managing director, Saif Partners.

Founder & Chief Executive Officer
IIT-Bombay, IIM-Bangalore. Starting with Mckinsey & Co as Engagement Manager (4 years), Goel worked as COO at Amar Chitra Katha (4 years) and MD at books & magazine distributor India Book House (1 year & 8 months)
Rajiv Srivatsa: Founder & Chief Operating Officer
IIT-Bombay, IIM-Bangalore. Starting with Infosys (2 years), Srivatsa has worked at Cognizant Technologies (nearly 4 years); was star performer at Yahoo!
(4 years), where he developed its cricket property & other digital intiatives

The opportunity

While India's furniture market is estimated at $15-20 billion (Rs 93,000-1,24,000 crore), the largest furniture business in the country. (Godrej Interio, which primarily sells office furniture, is estimated at only $80 million or Rs 496 crore.) Goel and Srivatsa saw a mismatch here. The category could see the emergence of a few billion-dollar businesses, they felt.

July 2012
Area of business: E-commerce marketplace for furniture
USP: Good visual merchandising, customer engagement
Funding: $1 million from Kalaari Capital (May 2012), $5 million from Saif Partners (Nov 2013)
GMV*: $1 million/month (around Rs 6 crore) by March 2014
Target: $6-8 million/month (around Rs 36 crore) by March 2016
Focus: Expand range, bring new designs, enhance web experience

*GMV: Gross merchandise value
Urban Ladder Ashish Goel and Rajiv Srivatsa Saif Partners Kalaari Capital

First Published : December 16, 2013 12:00 am

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