Urban Ladder mulls another Rs 750 cr in fund raising

Prior to this, the Ratan Tata-backed firm had raised $77 million in two tranches from a clutch of PE investors

A few weeks after it raised $50 million (Rs 315 crore), Ratan Tata-backed online furniture retailer Urban Ladder plans  another round, of $120 mn (Rs 750 crore), perhaps in about a year. It is likely to see participation from at least two new investors.

“We are well capitalised but the company is growing very fast and there will be need to raise more funds. So, we have had discussion with a few investors and are looking at raising $110-120 mn,” Ashish Goel, co-founder and chief executive , told the Business Standard. “I cannot share names at this stage but new investors will participate in the next round and they will be marquee ones, as I am focused on getting really high quality investors.”

According to sectoral sources, Urban Ladder has a gross merchandise value of around Rs 300 crore. The company is understood to be valued at $250-300 mn.

Last month, it had raised $50 mn from Sequoia Capital, TR Capital, Steadview Capital, SAIF Partners and Kalaari Capital. Prior to this, the company had attracted $27 mn from Kalaari Capital, SAIF Partners and Steadview Capital, over three years.

More recent, Urban Ladder received an undisclosed amount from Silicon Valley-based web and technology entrepreneurs Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan.

In November 2014, Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus, Tata Group, made a personal investment in the company.

Aiming at a business size of at least $5 billion (Rs 32,000 crore) over the next four to five years, Urban Ladder is  looking to enter several new categories, aiming to provide complete housing solutions. By August this year, it is looking to launch home decor, complementary to its furniture offerings. This is in line with most e-commerce companies trying to build a system around their core businesses to add additional revenue streams.

“Our customers have been asking us to launch allied categories such as linen, curtains, bathroom accessories, table decor, wall art, etc,” Goel said. “We will also look at some larger categories over two-three quarters but it is too early to talk about those.”

This, as a consequence, will see the non-furniture revenue pie growing over the next 12-18 months. Goel is aiming to have the share of home décor and allied businesses at 35-40 per cent over this period. At present, 95 per cent of the revenue comes from the furniture business.