Ratan Tata-backed Urban Ladder raises $50 mn from Sequoia Capital, others

Online furniture retailer Urban Ladder on Thursday said it has raised $50 million (around Rs 312 crore) in a fresh round of funding led by Sequoia Capital.

The other investors are TR Capital as well as existing investors Steadview Capital, SAIF Partners and Kalaari Capital.

Earlier this week, the Business Standard had exclusively reported that the company is closing this funding round.

Launched in July 2012, Urban Ladder competes with the likes of Pepperfry, and Rocket Internet-backed FabFurnish. The company offers over 4,000 products across more than 35 categories in furniture and home décor, and has a vision of "making a million Indian homes beautiful".

"We are delighted to partner with Urban Ladder in their vision of making quality home products available online to millions of Indian consumers, and look forward to working with (co-founders) Ashish (Goel), Rajiv (Srivatsa) and the rest of the Urban Ladder team to help build an enduring business," said Gautam Mago, managing director, Sequoia Capital India Advisors.

Prior to this round, Urban Ladder had raised $27 million from Kalaari Capital, SAIF Partners and Steadview Capital in the last three years. In 2014, Ratan Tata, the chairman emeritus at Tata Group, made an undisclosed amount of personal investment in Bengaluru-based Urban Ladder.

The company will use the fresh funding for investments in technology innovations.

"Technology will be a key driver in Urban Ladder's growth," Rajiv Srivatsa, chief operating officer, Urban Ladder, said. "The company is working on several tech innovations to solve complex furniture e-commerce problems. We are investing heavily in technology to introduce world class tech innovations that will massively simplify furniture shopping."

Chief Executive Officer Ashish Goel added Urban Ladder would continue with its focus on design thinking, product quality, customer experience and geographical expansion. The company plans to have presence across 30 cities by end of 2015.