How this interior design startup is making the most of work from home

The pandemic has altered how humans live and work — from home or anywhere. The need for comfortable and “functional” spaces continues to rise as most offices stay shut. 

A Gartner survey found that 80 percent of organisations plan to allow their employees to work remotely (for some time) even post the pandemic. As a result, home renovation or redesign is fast emerging as a happening segment, with people keen to make their spaces as utilitarian as possible. 

Enter Livspace, a home interior and renovation startup founded by Ramakant Sharma and Anuj Srivastava in 2016. The marketplace and design automation platform, which connects homeowners, certified designers, and vendors with customers, is witnessing rapid recovery and growth since 2020.

Post the first unlock, Livspace says it has managed over 5,100 homes, received more than 1,20,000 redesign requests, and has also raised $90 million in funding.

It has also invested $30 million to scale its proprietary design-to-manufacturing-to-installation platform — Neo — and plans to onboard 2,500 ecosystem partners on it.

The Interview

Aditi Pany has always been inspired by social entrepreneurs. She started Qalara, a wholesale ecommerce marketplace that enables small producers, manufacturers, and SMEs from India, South Asia, and Southeast Asia to export to wholesale buyers around the world. The platform lets buyers choose from artisanal, handmade, eco-friendly, and organic products lifestyle categories like home decor, furnishings, furniture, kitchen and dining, accessories, and more.

Editor’s Pick: Product Roadmap

What's the one thing airlines in India have that trains don’t? Good, hygienic food. To solve this problem, Manish Chandra and Suman Priya started RailRestroin 2015. It works as a food booking app for the sprawling Indian Railways, and offers passengers the option of entering their PNRs to place an order and get it delivered at their seats in specific stations. Read more.

Startup Spotlight

Apparel manufacturing marketplace Fashinza uses tech to democratise supply chain

Small and medium entrepreneurs form the backbone of the Indian economy, and Abhishek Sharma wanted to make a difference in their lives by providing them with access to local and global brands. Teaming up with Pawan Gupta, he launched Fashinza in 2019. It is a manufacturing marketplace for fashion brands that blend traditional artisan techniques with a tech-enabled supply chain. Read more.

News & Updates

• LeapFrog Investments has received a commitment of $500 million from Temasek. Following this agreement, Temasek Holdingswill anchor LeapFrog’s future funds and also take a minority stake to provide the growth capital for the latter’s funding across Asia and Africa.

• NODWIN Gaming, a subsidiary of Nazara Technologies, has raised Rs 164 crore from Krafton, the South Korean developer of PUBG. It will use the funds to expand globally, and accelerate the development of esports in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, and also invest in talent, better gaming infrastructure, and new tournament IPs.

• OnePlus said it plans to invest more than $150 million over the next three years to further build its mobile imaging capabilities to enhance the camera experience for its users. It has also announced a three-year partnership with camera manufacturer Hasselblad.

• After raising $1.5 million led by Venture Catalysts recently, ImaginXPhas announced the acquisition of Noesis Learning, an edtech startup that enables a digital learning environment and brings technology into the space of career to course mapping. 

• Facebook is testing Instagram Reels sharing with a clutch of Indian users. The new feature will let creators share their 15-second short videos natively on the Facebook News Feed, similar to the existing Instagram Stories-sharing feature.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“The only economic fundamental that growth-hacking drives is that you should be able to grow your business without really spending as much as other — more traditional — businesses would do."

— Anuj Srivastava, Co-founder and CEO, Livspace

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