Furniture rental startup Furlenco has raised INR 125 Cr (about $15 Mn) in a funding round led by existing investor Sheela Foam, along with participation from Whiteoak and Madhu Kela.
Notably, Sheela Foam got its board's approval last month to invest an additional capital of up to INR 30 Cr in Furlenco parent House of Kieraya.
Furlenco plans to deploy the fresh capital to strengthen its presence in existing markets and enter new markets in the country, invest in product innovation, technology and customer experience.
"With a clear path to profitability and scale, this round sets us up strongly for the next coming years, as we work towards building a long-term, public-market ready business," said Furlenco founder Ajith Mohan Karimpana. The startup is eyeing an IPO after FY27.
Founded in 2012 by Karimpana, Furlenco runs a subscription-driven furniture and appliance rental platform that offers more than 300 SKUs across 28 cities, including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, and Kolkata. The startup also sells new furniture.
It earns 70% of its revenue from rental furniture, about 25% from appliances, and 5% from new furniture.
Furlenco became profitable in FY25 with a net profit of INR 3.1 Cr as against a net loss of INR 130.2 Cr incurred in FY24. Its top line grew 64% to INR 228.7 Cr in FY25 from INR 139.6 Cr in the previous fiscal.
The startup is eyeing a revenue of INR 370 Cr and a profit of INR 37 Cr in the ongoing financial year. It is banking on Furlenco Kids vertical and premium customers for this. It plans to reach a profit of about INR 100 Cr before filing for IPO.
It is pertinent to note that FY25 was Furlenco's first ever profitable fiscal after a tumultuous journey of over a decade. Speaking to Inc42 last month, Karimpana shared how the Covid-19 pandemic left the company cash starved.
"Despite having raised equity, we barely had a runway of more than 100 days," he said. "If I were to rebuild Furlenco, I wouldn't build it on debt. It is my life's worst decision."
To tide over the crisis, the startup made a number of operational challenges - some of them worked while others failed. However, its turnaround story began when Sheela Foam, the parent of Sleepwell, acquired a 35% stake in House of Kieraya for INR 300 Cr in 2023.
Overall, Furlenco has raised a total funding of about $ 290.3 Mn to date, including the latest funding round, from investors like Lightbox Ventures, Crescent Ventures, among others.
It competes with the likes of Rentomojo and Rentickle in the rental furniture market in India.