HoK is targeting ₹2500 crore in revenue by 2026 and claims
to be currently growing at about 100% per month. HoK is said to be on track to
double its overall revenue this month (September) and expects to triple the
revenue next month (October).
“However, the company is still a year and a half away from
profitability,” Ajith Karimpana, CEO and Founder, House of Kieraya (HoK) told
BusinessLine.
Karimpana attributes the accelerated growth to the company’s
expansion into newer cities, addition of new products on a daily basis, and
launch of their re-commerce brand Furbicle. In the four months of operations,
Furbicle is said to have achieved a revenue run-rate of $2 million.
Company profile
Furbicle offers re-manufactured furniture across categories,
including living room furniture, beds, dining tables, study solutions,
workstations, loungers, along with a variety of home appliances.
The re-commerce brand is currently operational in Bengaluru,
Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune,
Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Noida.
Today, HoK has three brands under its umbrella including
furniture rental service Furlenco, re-commerce brand Furbicle and furniture
subscription service UNLMTD.
Target groups
Karimpana believes that there are different target groups in
the market with different needs and aspirations – each of these groups have to
be addressed with a different brand identity.
For instance, a young person between the age of 25 to 30 is
more inclined to a brand like Furlenco but somebody between 30 to 35 will be
more interested in a brand like UNLMTD.
“HoK’s ambition is to have an answer for every phase of
consumer’s life. Each HoK brand will cater to one kind of audience for a
particular time in their life and then they will move on to another brand,”
Karimpana added.
Among the existing brands of HoK like Furlenco and UNLMTD,
customers have the option to give the furniture back if they don’t like it.
Because of which the company did not feel the need to set up experience centers
and has remained completely online till now.
“The brand is completely online at this point but as we grow
the furniture selling side of our business, we might have to consider an
omnichannel model. So, offline is definitely on the cards, but we will try our
best to go as online as possible. And then, if we hit a roadblock, we will
think about omnichannel,” said Karimpana.
Funds raised
Last month, HoK raised $15 million from an alternative debt
platform TradeCred. Earlier this year, the company had raised another $140
million in a mix of equity and debt round from Zinnia Global Fund and a $2.7
million debt round from BlackSoil Capital. The Bengaluru-based company is
estimated to have raised around $250 million across equity and debt rounds till
date.
In the furniture rental space, HoK’s flagship
brand Furlenco competes with RentoMojo, Rentickle, and CityFurnish. According
to RedSeer’s April 2021 analysis, these four players dominate India’s ₹33,500
crore rental furniture and appliances market, both in terms of volume and
value. RedSeer had estimated this market to grow at a CAGR of 11 per cent by
2025. Courtesy: www.thehindubusinessline.com
