Design Café, a Bangalore based home interior startup has raised $25 million led by existing investors WestBridge Capital. Sixth Sense Ventures also came on board as new investors with the extended Series B round said the company. Additionally, early investor Fireside Ventures also participated in the round along with a few family offices.
With the completion of this additional round of funding, Design Café has raised a total of INR 366 crore which includes the INR 200 crore raised in 2018. According to a company statement, the fresh capital will be utilized towards expanding into newer cities. Design Café intends to be present in the top 10 cities over the next 18 months. Currently operational in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad, the company is all set to open more experience centres in Bengaluru and become operational in Thane and Chennai.
“The funds will allow us to take our services and products to more markets, and invest further in technology and people,” said Shezan Bhojani, CEO, Design Cafe.
Founded by Gita Ramanan and Shezan Bhojani, Design Café is an interior design solutions firm working towards democratizing good designs for all homes across India. Established in 2015, the startup works on a vertically integrated business model and has a host of designers, workforce, and factory in Bengaluru manufacturing its products.
“We believe that home interiors and improvement is a very large opportunity in India and the problem that Design Cafe addresses is a real consumer need today,” said Sandeep Singhal, cofounder & managing director, WestBridge Capital.
Design Café also stated that it is close to breaking even with its annual revenue run rate nearing INR 180 crore.
“Profitability in this industry has always been a challenge, but Design Cafe’s increased focus on standardised modular furniture, vertically integrated manufacturing, and a full-stack tech platform, will enable the business to achieve economies of scale,” said Nikhil Vora, founder and CEO of Sixth Sense Ventures.
