Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata has made a personal investment in Bengaluru-based online furniture company Urban Ladder. The company did not disclose the amount of investment made by Mr. Tata. This is the third personal investment by Mr. Tata in online business. Prior to the investment in Urban Ladder, he has invested in online jewellery retailer Bluestone and in Snapdeal.com.
The investment by Mr. Tata comes four months after it raised around $21 million in a Series B funding from Steadview Capital, SAIF Partners and Kalaari Capital. Urban Ladder raised Series A funding in November 2013.
“Mr. Tata understands the furniture space very well, specially our focus on product design since he has a lot of knowledge of the subject. His inputs and guidance will be very valuable for us,” said Urban Ladder co-founder and CEO Ashish Goel.Urban Ladder, launched by Mr. Goel and Rajiv Srivatsa in July, 2012, offers over 1,000 products across 25 categories in furniture such as wardrobes, beds, sofas, dining tables and coffee tables.
The company has earlier said that it aims to be the biggest furniture seller in India in the next 18 months.
The company is also focusing on using innovative technology to further elevate customer experience to bridge the gap between online and offline shopping.
