Indian furniture rental company gets $10m Series B
RentoMojo, an Indian financial technology company that facilitates rentals of furniture and other household items, has raised a $10 million Series B round led by Bain Capital Ventures and fintech entrepreneur Renaud Laplanche.
Additional contributions came from existing backers Accel Partners and IDG Ventures. Laplanche is the founder of US-based credit platforms Upgrade and Lending Club. Salil Deshpande, the managing director of Bain who will join the RentoMojo board, has previously invested in Lending Club.
Founded in 2014, RentoMojo describes itself as a first-of-its-kind consumer product leasing business that raises lease-capital from financial institutions for products rented to consumers for long-term periods, typically 18 months. In addition to furniture for both the home and office, it specializes in appliances, electronics, and bicycles.
“In India’s credit-constrained economy, RentoMojo has built a defensible beachhead in multiple categories in an underserved sector in the subscription economy, with a capital-efficient two-sided marketplace, no balance-sheet risk and network effects at scale,” Deshpande said in a statement.
Operations span Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad, with more than 25,000 subscribers on the platform. The new capital will be used to improve services, add to the leadership team, and expand into new categories and geographies. RentoMojo raised $7 million in seed and Series A round led by Accel and IDG.
The Indian financial services market is considered well penetrated with consumer lending businesses but thought to have fewer opportunities for the consumer leasing that targets a perceived preference among younger people to rent rather than buy. Recent VC in activity in India’s personal credit space includes a $9 million Series A led for MoneyTap and a $5.3 million round for PaySense.
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