Urban Ladder is India’s one of the fastest growing furniture e-tailers. This Bangalore-based startup owns processes end-to-end, which means they control everything from the selection of wood and designing the furniture to the delivery of the purchase. Urban Ladder provides furniture, lifestyle and home decor products. Urban Ladder is a one-stop shop for every kind of furniture needs.
Founders of Urban Ladder:
Urban Ladder was founded by Ashish Goel and Rajiv Srivatsa in 2012. They both worked with different multinational companies before starting their own venture. Ashish Goel previously worked with McKinsey & Company and served as the CEO of Amar Chitra Katha.Rajiv Srivatsa previously worked with Cognizant and Yahoo.
Idea of Urban Ladder
While both the founders Ashish Goel and Rajiv Srivatsa were brainstorming over all the potential ideas on which they can start their own business they decided to move to Bangalore. After moving to Bangalore both their houses were without any kind of furniture due to the lack of trusted furniture brands, online or offline. That is when it stuck to them the need of a well-branded furniture marketplace in India.
Urban Ladder Funding:
Urban Ladder received its first funding from Kalaari Capital in May 2012. Kalaari Capital invested 1 million dollars immediately after that Ashish and Rajive launched their first venture in July 2012, Urbanladder.com.
Since then Urban Ladder has managed to raise 92 million dollars in the Series of 5 rounds from 8 different investors.
Series A: After initial funding of 1 million dollars from Kalaari Capital in 2012. The company raised another 5 million dollars from SAIF Partners.
Series B: In this round Urban Ladder raised 21 million dollars from existing investors Kalaari Capital and SAIF Partners and Steadview Capital.
Series C: Urban Ladder raised 50 million dollars in Series C round from existing investors and some new investors like Ratan Tata, TR Capital, Sequoia Capital.
In the latest round of funding held in February 2017, they raised 1.02 billion dollars from ABG Capital and other existing investors.
Urban Ladder Business Model:
Urban Ladder is an online e-tailer for furniture and home decor products. The company delivers and installs all the products it offers providing end to end furniture solution to its customers. But unlike its competitors which operate as marketplaces, Urban Ladders owns processes end-to-end, which means they control everything from the selection of wood and designing the furniture to the delivery of the purchase.
Awards and Recognizations:
Urban Ladder has won several national and international awards since its inception few of those awards are.
- Best Digital Startup in India by IAMAI
- Ashish and Rajiv have been featured in Fortune’s 40 Under 40 for three consecutive years (2014 – 2016) and a part of GQ’s 50 most influential young Indians in 2015
- Top 10 dream companies for Freshers by HRWorkplace Survey 2016
- In-book Winner: Direct Response – Digital for Mattress Tester at the Kyoorius Creative Awards, 2017
- In-book Winner: Use of Social Media for Mattress Tester at the Kyoorius Creative Awards, 2017
Pepperfry vs Urban Ladder:
In the year 2012 three companies were born with the same objective of being number one online marketplace for Home decor and furniture. In Jan 2012 Pepperfry started its operation following Fab Furnish and Urban Ladder.Today PepperFry and Urban Ladder are the frontrunners in the race. Even though UrbanLadder has raised more funding and has more yearly revenue,
Today PepperFry and Urban Ladder are the frontrunners in the race. While UrbanLadder has raised more funding and has more yearly revenue but Pepperfry has expanded their wings not only in the online but offline market also and has a huge customer base across the nation.