Bengaluru’s home interior solutions brand, DesignCafe, has secured INR 40 crore in a subsequent Series B funding round.
Shezaan Bhojani and Gita Ramanan established DesignCafe in 2015 with the objective of making exceptional home interior design accessible to Indian homeowners, providing them with a cost-effective and convenient experience.
WestBridge Capital, Mirabilis Investment Trust, and Alteria Capital, prominent private equity and venture debt funds, respectively, led the funding round. Furthermore, Sixth Sense Ventures and DesignCafe’s founders, Shezaan Bhojani and Gita Ramanan, also participated in the funding round.
Talking about the latest development, Shezaan Bhojani, Co-founder and CEO of DesignCafe, commented on the recent development, stating, “This round is an affirmation of the many decisions we have made to build a profitable and scalable business in the home interior and decor segment. In the last year, we have made significant progress towards profitability. Our margins have increased significantly, and we are operationally profitable across all cities.”
Currently, the firm is operational in ten Indian cities and is rapidly expanding. On the growth of the brand, Shezaan said, “This round will help us take both our brands to newer markets across India, as we continue to deliver 60-70% CAGR growth annually. More importantly, with improving EBITDA numbers, we expect to soon be profitable, it is with great confidence that we as founders also decided to re-invest in the company at this stage.”
Shezaan Bhojani further added, “Essentially, what we are doing is that it is an extension of the last round. We are making sure that there is a 36-month runway. The idea is to have enough capital in the bank till you get profitable.”
Speaking about the development, Gita Ramanan, the Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are very excited about expanding Design Cafe and our new brand Qarpentri across India. In just six months since launch, we have become market leaders in this category with over 4x growth and are profitable to boot.”
Despite the challenging funding environment, numerous startups in various industries were able to secure financing. One notable instance is The Souled Store, a lifestyle and fan merchandise startup located in Mumbai, which recently completed a Series C funding round and raised approximately $16.4 million (INR 135 crore).
Fashinza, a fashion supply chain startup based in Gurugram, secured $30 million in funding from Mars Growth Capital and Liquidity Group to facilitate working capital needs for expansion into the US, Gulf, and Europe. Similarly, Mystifly, a platform for air retailing and payments, concluded its pre-Series B funding round with fresh investment, amounting to $8 million.