PE giant TPG to back home design startup Livspace with Rs 275 cr fund
Private equity giant TPG is set to make a $40-million (about Rs 275-crore) investment in online home design startup Livspace, striking its second consumer internet deal in India, people directly aware of the matter said.
Livspace, founded by Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma, offers shoppable designs for all rooms, which can be selected from the website and customised with assistance from interior designers.
Home Interior Designs E-commerce, which runs the startup, has raised a total of about $28 million from investors like Bessemer and Helion Venture Partners till date.
The latest deal-making suggests that TPG — one of the largest private equity investors globally, besides an investor in Airbnb and Uber — is warming up to the Indian consumer internet story. The stake purchase in Livspace will be its second investment after leading a smaller $22-million round in Valyoo Technologies, which runs Lenskart, in 2015.
TPG’s investment comes at a time when Livspace is also strengthening its offline network of experiential stores across top cities. Online home furnishing and design startups like HomeLane, Pepperfry and Urban Ladder have increasingly embraced an omni-channel strategy to accelerate growth.
When contacted, TPG declined to comment, while Livspace could not be contacted till the time of going to press.
Warburg Pincus, Carlyle, Goldman Sachs and Temasek are chasing down deals in the Indian consumer internet market buoyed by Walmart’s $20-billion deal to buy local e-commerce leader Flipkart. Digital startups are settling down after several years of hyper growth fuelled by aggressive funding.
Livspace rival HomeLane has raised capital from a clutch of VCs Accel, Sequoia, Aarin, GrowthStory and Brand Capital, among others. Pepperfry, which sells furniture and furnishing directly to consumers, has raised close to $200 million from investors such as State Street and Goldman Sachs, while Urban Ladder counts on Sequoia, SAIF and Steadview Capital among its shareholders.
