Livspace bags Rs 100 cr funding from existing investors

Mumbai, Aug 29 (PTI) Online home design company Livspacetoday said it has raised Rs 100 crore from existing investorsin a second strategic round (Series B) of funding. The round was led by Bessemer Ventures Partners andsaw participation from Jungle Ventures and Helion, Livspacesaid in a statement here. The funds will be used to launch services acrosscities — Noida, Gurgaon, Mumbai in 2016 and Pune, Hyderabadin the first half of 2017, it added. This round of funding comes close on the heels of thecompany’s launch of its ‘Home Design Automation Platform’. "With this round of funding we will aim to reachrevenue of USD 100 million by the end of 2017 and achieveoperational profitability across cities," Anuj Srivastava, CEOand Co-founder of Livspace, said. Founded by Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma, Livspacehas raised USD 27.4 million since its launch in 2014. It hasenlisted over six lakh home design enthusiasts, and has madethree acquisitions in two years including DezignUp, Dwll.inand YoFloor. The home industry is estimated to be USD 25-30 billionbut over 95 per cent of it is unorganised and serviced byturn-key contractors, small studios, freelance designers andcarpenters. Livspace sees a great opportunity in adopting aplatform driven approach, which borrows from the principles ofplatforms like Uber and AirBnB, it said. PTI DSK KRK ABKBAS