Ikea's parent Ingka Group invests in Livspace

Livspace, the home design and renovation platform, has announced that Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group, has made a minority investment in the company. Ingka group is a strategic partner in the Ikea franchise system, representing 90% of total Ikea retail sales through 367 stores in 30 markets, including India.

With Ingka’s strong global footprint and Livspace’s disruptive technology platform, the investment enables a sharing of expertise between the two companies. Livspace will deploy its newly raised funds in areas such as developing new home interior solutions and products, market expansion as well as growing its offline footprint.

Anuj Srivastava

“We are thrilled to welcome on board Ingka Group and a world-class brand like Ikea. We look forward to the immense collaboration possibilities in areas such as catalogue and marketplace integration, retail technology, and online-to-offline innovations,” said Anuj Srivastava, Co-founder and CEO of Livspace.

He added, “Livspace aims to make good living accessible to millions. This investment is a step in that direction. On one hand, the investment gives us the opportunity to create one of the best omni-channel interiors and furniture purchase experience for homeowners. On the other hand, interior designers and vendors can anticipate a richer design and supply experience.”

“Convenience and personalisation are becoming increasingly important to the future of home furnishing and customers life at home and we believe Livspace has created a digital platform that has the potential to transform a customer’s home furnishing journey. This minority investment aligns closely with the digital direction of Ingka Group and our core business, Ikea Retail, and we are looking forward to exploring new opportunities together with Livspace,” said Krister Mattsson, Head of Ingka Investments, Ingka Group.

In September 2018, Livspace raised $70 million as part of its Series C round and brought TPG Growth and Goldman Sachs on board as investors. The round marked the largest Series C round ever raised by a vertical e-commerce company in India and was amongst the biggest in Southeast Asia. This fresh investment comes months after the last round and Avendus Capital was the financial advisor to the company for the investment.

Ingka Group (Ingka Holding B.V. and its controlled entities) is one of 11 different groups of companies that own and operate Ikea sales channels under franchise agreements with Inter Ikea Systems B.V. Ingka Group has three business areas: Ikea Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres. Ingka Group, formerly Ikea Group, is a strategic partner in the Ikea franchise system, owning and operating 367 Ikea stores and digital touchpoints in 30 markets.

Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma

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