Indian startup Livspace has already managed to attract a lot of attention from a variety of companies.
Now he has managed to interest the famous furniture manufacturer IKEA. It became known that the Swedish company also became an investor in the design service.
The Livspace service provides the user with the opportunity to choose the most suitable interior design, visualize it in 3D, and then find contractors for its implementation. It is claimed that this saves not only time, but money. The project has been running for almost five years and over the years has managed to raise almost $100 million in investments, including from companies such as Goldman Sachs and TPG Growth. Now, representatives of the startup told about the receipt of investments (the exact amount was not disclosed) from Ingka Investments, the venture arm of the Ingka Group, which controls 90% retail IKEA.
Livspace CEO and co-founder Anuj Srivastava, formerly of Google, declined to provide details of the deal, although he said IKEA's stake is negligible and there are no plans to increase investment yet. TechCrunch journalists suggest that now Livspace users will be able to design interiors, including furniture from the Swedish giant. IKEA can also help a startup enter new markets.
The Indian market is a difficult place for international retailers, but IKEA has made progress recently. The company opened its first store in Hyderabad last year and plans to open 25 more in the near future.