Bangalore-based online marketplace for fixed furniture HomeLane has raised $4.5 million in funding from Sequoia Capital, with participation in individual capacity from Manipal Education and Medical Group's Ranjan Pai and Manipal Global Education's Mohandas Pai, reports The Economic Times. The funds will be used to expand to 10 new cities over the next 6 months. GrowthStory’s Meena and K Ganesh had acquired the offline design firm Bello Interiors Pvt Ltd and rebranded it as HomeLane, in August last year. Co-founders Srikanth Iyer, ex-CEO of Pearson India and founder of Edurite, and Rama Harinath, ex-senior management member at TutorVista stayed on post acquisition. HomeLane sells furniture such as entertainment units, wardrobes, kitchen units, study tables, and shoe racks among other. Additionally, the company also offers customization services, help in planning interiors, etc. The company claims it delivers products within 4 weeks and provides 3-year manufacturer warranty. Curated online marketplace for furniture Urban Ladder is one of HomeLane's primary competitors. It's worth noting that Urban Ladder secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Tata Group's chairman emeritus Ratan Tata, in November last year. Previously, Urban Ladder had raised $21 million (around Rs.120 crore) from Hong Kong-based Steadview Capital, and existing investors SAIF Partners and Kalaari Capital, in July last year. The company had also acqui-hired the Delhi based startup BuyNBrag to strengthen its home decor biz. Other players in this space include Rocket Internet backed FabFurnish, PepperFry and Bedbathmore.com among others.
