Korean home interiors start-up gets $182m Series D
OHouse, a consumer-facing platform in South Korea used for sourcing materials and services relating to home furnishing and interior decorating, has raised USD 182m in Series D funding.
Investors included SoftBank Ventures Asia, BRV Capital Management, Vertex Growth, Bond, Korea Development Bank, IMM Investment, and Mirae Asset Capital. It follows a USD 70m Series C led by Bond – and featuring IMM, Mirae Asset, and Naver Corporation – that closed last December at a valuation of approximately USD 620m, AVCJ Research’s records show.
Prior to that, IMM and Bon Angels Ventures Partners provided KRW 1bn (USD 870,000) in Series A funding in 2016. IMM and Mirae Asset led a KRW 5bn Series B in 2018.
Founded in 2014 by Seungjae Lee and sometimes referred to as Bucketplace, the name of its parent company, oHouse describes itself as Korea’s leading lifestyle super app in the interior space. It runs an e-commerce platform for sourcing furniture and materials and features community-driven content through which homeowners can identify design themes and discover new products.
Annualised gross merchandise value has reached USD 1.7bn with one furniture item purchased every seven seconds, according to a statement. The company recently expanded its suite of complementary services, introducing home remodelling, removals, and installation and repairs.
“Eight years ago, oHouse was simply a community of people sharing interior design content with one another. Today, we’ve grown into a global platform that brings users together to inspire one another to transform their lives,” said Lee.
“We’re creating solutions that can help our global user base with every design and style-related challenge that they’re facing, whether it be remodelling a bathroom, planning a dinner party or setting up a home theatre system.”
The company wants to expand internationally. It recently acquired Hipvan, an online furniture platform in Singapore, which is expected to serve as a beachhead for Southeast Asia. Other priority markets include the US and Western Europe. Other development plans include the incorporation of augmented reality (AR) technology and building out logistics infrastructure.
"OHouse is not only transforming the home furnishing industry but also reshaping the e-commerce customer experience,” added J.P. Lee, CEO of SoftBank Ventures Asia.
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