Online furniture rental firm Furlenco raises $6 million in Series A round from Lightbox Ventures

Swadha Mishra

Bengaluru-based furniture rental company Kieraya Furnishing Solutions Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates website Furlenco (formerly known as Rent Ur Duniya), has raised $6 million in Series A round from venture capital firm Lightbox Ventures, as per a company statement.

Post the deal, Siddharth Talwar, Co-founder, Lightbox has joined Furlenco’s board. This brings the total investments raised till date, including this round, to over Rs 40 crore.

The fund raised will be mainly used for enhancing technology and expanding product range. "We will be using the funds primarily for three things - enhancing our technology especially on the mobile front, introducing appropriate newer ranges for other target segments, and making the entire furniture as a service experience," Ajith Karimpana, Founder & CEO, Furlenco.com told EntrepreneurIndia.com.

Furlenco was founded in October 2011 by Ajith Mohan Karimpana, former Vice-President of Goldman Sachs. Karimpana has an MS in computer and information science from Temple University (US).

Furlenco is an online marketplace for renting furniture for residential use. The products on offer are a mix of fresh and refurbished goods. It designs its own furniture and gets it manufactured from third party vendors. Earlier this year, Furlenco beat out major companies to win the design of the year award at the CII design event. Furlenco aims to make the entire furniture renting and returning process convenient and affordable.

Also Read: Furlenco redefining the furniture rental space in india

“We are excited to be partnering with Furlenco to redefine how millions of consumers interact with Furniture. The firm is approaching the opportunity of shelter by making furniture more accessible through subscription,” said Sandeep Murthy, Partner, Lightbox Ventures in an official blog post.

“With Furlenco’s intuitive web and mobile apps a time stretched, money constrained and environmentally conscious professional can now live a life that is truly reflective of her stature in this up and coming country,” Murthy added further.

Lightbox was floated by former Sherpalo Ventures’ India head Sandeep Murthy. He has stakes in many firms including existing investments of Sherpalo and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in India. The first fund has a portfolio comprising GreenDust, ZoomIn, MapmyIndia, Paymate, FutureBazaar and Kotak Urja. Recently, the VC firm invested in Sequoia-backed quick service restaurant chain Faaso’s.