- Startup expects to reach its first net income in early 2025
- Home interiors platform growing as Indian middle class expands
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By Olivia Poh
18 tháng 9, 2024 at 03:30 GMT+7
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Livspace, a home interiors and renovation platform backed by KKR & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., expects to record its first net income in the first quarter of 2025 in a step toward an initial public offering.
The Singapore-based startup has been cash flow positive since last October and is growing its revenue at 40% year-over-year, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Ramakant Sharma said in an interview. To accelerate its growth and prepare for an IPO, the company plans to shift its base to its main market India in mid-2025.
Livspace gets 85% of its revenue from India, the fastest-growing major economy with an expanding middle class. By re-domiciling to the world’s most populous country, Livspace is following in the footsteps of other tech unicorns like Peak XV-backed Pine Labs Pvt and InMobi Pte and betting that a newfound vigor in Indian equities will last.
“We are seeing more and more growth coming from India,” said Sharma, 43. “We hope for a good listing, maybe 18 to 24 months from now.”
Founded in 2015 by Sharma and Anuj Srivastava, Livspace connects customers with designers and vendors to help them furnish homes in about 100 cities across India, as well as Singapore. The startup’s sales have surpassed an annual run rate of $180 million and are on pace to grow at a 35% to 40% clip for the next three to four years as it expands into areas including home furnishing and kitchen appliances, Sharma said.
The company is now refocusing on growing its revenue organically in India, shifting away from an acquisition push it started two years ago. By year-end, the company aims to have 200 stores across India that complement its online platform.
Livspace, last valued at $1.2 billion after a funding round in 2022, has yet to appoint bankers to underwrite its IPO, Sharma said, declining to give an estimate for the company’s valuation in a listing.
India’s IPO market is booming while peers such as China face economic challenges. Indian listings have already raised $8.6 billion this year, more than each of the two preceding years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Locals have been putting record money into the market, with foreign investors also turning net buyers of Indian equities this year.