“We want to dominate the entire furniture market with
different models. We believe it cannot be one model (like rentals only). HoK
creates a continuum of sorts for all furniture needs,” says Ajith Mohan
Karimpana, founder and chief executive, Furlenco.
HoK will be a house of brands and any new brand
offering—like the one planned for launch next month—will be a part of it. The
umbrella entity is targeting Rs 2,500 crore revenue by 2026. It also plans to
expand to 25 cities in the next three years, up from 13 at present.
Last month, Furlenco raised $140 million (Rs 1,000 crore) in
a mix of debt and equity as part of its latest funding round led by Zinnia
Global Fund. The funding will help the company expand its geographic reach,
launch new products and plans, and support marketing.
Users can now rent individual pieces of furniture, just like
à la carte at Furlenco. If they want multiple pieces of furniture, like a
buffet, they can check out Unlmtd, to say, furnish a three-bedroom flat. For
around Rs 70,000 a year, they can rent out 15 pieces of furniture. The company
is also launching a monthly plan for Rs 4,000 for users who want to hire nine
pieces of furniture, including dining set, beds with mattresses, and chairs and
tables.
Under Furbicle, HoK will buy used furniture and even unboxed
items (like returns from Amazon, Flipkart, and other e-commerce companies),
remake them and sell at 25%-30% cheaper prices than Urban Ladder or Pepperfry.
Karimpana claims the offering is also better than buying from classified
platforms such as Quikr or OLX. “The difference is that we will ourselves buy,
re-manufacture, and then sell furniture. It will be affordable for budget
customers.”
According to the company, it is able to cover
the entire furniture market — from rentals to resale — as it has created the
requisite knowledge base and experience apart from having its own logistics,
warehouses, and design team. The remanufacturing will be done at its
warehouses. Karimpana says the company is already at 173% of the pre-Covid-19
levels. “From an adoption perspective, people realise that subscription is an
affordable model. When we launched in Jaipur recently, we did 200 houses in
just 15 days. People don’t want to be caught up with assets, but want to rent
them,” he adds. Courtesy: www.economictimes.indiatimes.com
