zunpulse Partners With Livspace Changing the Real Estate Landscape With Fully Automated Homes

Business Wire India
zunpulse, the fastest growing smart home automation brand, partners with Livspace, India’s leading home interiors and renovation platform, as they foray into fully automated homes, introducing a silver glow to the real estate industry.
 
Through this partnership, zunpulse will offer its Smart Home Automation Product Range across Livspace real estate projects for its existing and new customers. zunpulse is ZunRoof Tech Private Limited’s fastest growing brand launched in September 2020 and has already sold over 1,00,000 IoT devices. Owing to the fast paced growth of this brand clubbed with Livspace’s excellent market penetration in the home space, this collaboration is being seen as the cornerstone for the changing landscape of the real estate market.
 
The partnership is aimed at strengthening the two pillars - comfort and convenience - of the home space market as zunpulse and Livspace foray into the emerging smart home empire together. Home owners will now be empowered with impeccable user experience as they are offered the future of living with state-of-the-art fully automated smart homes.
 
Livspace smart homes are to be veneered with zunpulse range of products consisting of zunpulse Smart Plug, zunpulse Smart Camera, zunpulse Smart AC remote, zunpulse Smart Security System equipped with a motion sensor, the door sensor, and a siren to sound alarm, zunpulse Smart Video doorbell, zunpulse Smart TV remote and zunpulse Smart LED Bulbs.
 
These smart homes will equip the home owners with multiple layers of security, control, automation and convenience through the plug and play devices. The devices are compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant  and can be controlled with a single app on the mobile phone. The zunpulse mobile App is available on Play Store and App Store. The range of smart home products start at a steal price of INR 990/-.
 
Commenting on the partnership, Saurabh Jain, Chief Business Officer, Livspace said, “Over the past few years, digital technologies and connected devices have disrupted the way people interact with their home space. This trend further accelerated last year, as people spent more and more time at home and realised the value of smart home solutions, from safety and security to time saving. As leaders in the home renovation and interiors space, these developments have opened new opportunities to provide innovative and seamless services to our customers. Through this partnership with zunpulse, Livspace will continue to offer our existing and potential customers a one-stop integrated solution to create and power smart homes.”
 
“The new age technology from the 21st century has catapulted the adoption of fully integrated and automated homes. It is a booming trend in the real estate space and we are proud to partner with Livspace in this initiative. With the help of IoT, we are aiming to provide end to end automation for the Livspace homes and bring convenience and control to the homeowners. We are thrilled with this collaboration as it is an exciting touch of reality for us to see home owners experience these products - crafted and designed for their comfort,” added Pranesh Chaudhary, Founder and CEO at zunpulse.
 
Owing to the pandemic and the changing global scenario the introduction of smart homes has accelerated and zunpulse is investing heavily in resources to realize a massive expansion of its existing wide range of products to introduce products such as smart door lock, smart air purifier, smart mopper and smart fans that will strengthen the smart home experience. With Livspace and zunpulse committing to make this a significant move in the smart home automation category, the world can expect to see the smart homes come alive in the Indian real estate market at a significant pace. 

VC Arm of IKEA Invests in Bangalore's Livspace

Ingka investments, the investment arm of IKEA's parent firm Ingka Group,has invested in Bangalore-based home furnishing startup Livspace for a minority stake, reported Deal Street Asia.

Livspace will use fresh Fundings in areas such as developing new home interior solutions and products, market expansion as well as growing its offline footprint.

Ingka Group operates 90 percent of Ikea’s retail footprint.

Founded in 2015 by a former Google executive Anuj Srivastava, Livspace was initially started as an online shopping destination where users can design, decorate and furnish their home. Later over the time, the startup opt for omni channel strategy and opened its first offline store in Hyderabad last year and has received FDI approval to operate retails store.

The startup has so far raised over $98 Mn in funding over five rounds in total. Its other investors include गोल्डमैन सचस, TPG Growth, Bessemer Venture Partners and Helion Venture, among others.

Livspace has even acquired few companies that include - - YoFloor, a Bangalore-based Home Design platform that uses interactive 3D models, Dwll.IN, a Mumbai-based curated network of interior designers, and DezignUp, an online community for home designers and home products.

Bangalore Based Livspace Announces Rs 25 Cr Investments in Online to Offline Initiatives

Livspace, India’s largest home interior design and execution platform has opened four flagship Design Centers across top metro cities to bring an omnichannel design experience to homeowners. By integrating thousands of online Livspace looks, visualization through virtual reality and an offline, tactile experience, the company expects the Design Centers to solidify its leadership position in the home design space in India.

These flagships serve as an addition to the existing network of a total of 11 Design Center and Experience Apartments, spread across Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. With more such facilities in the pipeline — including flagships, small-format Design Centers, and Experience Apartments — this number is expected to grow to 25, over the next 12-18 months. A sum of INR 25 crore has been earmarked for this expansion through 2018. These Design Centers are expected to double revenue by mid-2018, owing to an increase in conversion rate, with each center contributing INR 4-6 crore by end of 2017.

True omnichannel experience has always been integral to Livspace since the opening of the pilot Design Center in Bangalore in 2015. Over the last year and a half, the company registered a 35% higher average conversion rate in Bangalore when compared to other cities, solely because of the Design Center. Livspace also gathered feedback from customers, who unanimously said they wanted more looks, a true feeling of being in a home, more technology integration to visualize the space, and extensive material libraries to select from, in order to reduce time-to-purchase.

In every Design Center the showcase of rooms — bedrooms, living rooms, modular kitchens, floorings, false ceiling, wall solutions, and, everything in between — is tailored to current design trends and preferences, and average budget range. Customers can touch, feel and select materials for everything from wallpapers, kitchen and wardrobe shutters, flooring, etc., in the appropriate selection zones. Once a design has been finalized, an automated order will be placed for all items and services like an eCommerce order. Within weeks of a customer walking into a Livspace Design Center, the company’s installation and services team make the customer’s home look like the selected design.

Inspired by high customer demand, given the buoyant new home purchases in metros, and by deep consumer research in the online-offline experience required in the interiors industry, Livspace Design Centers are modelled on a ‘home-in-store’ retail philosophy — simply walk in for a real-life experience of interiors that resemble your home, including kitchens, flooring, false ceiling, etc. This home-like environment is deeply integrated with the Livspace design platform, virtual reality, personalized design services, as well as the eCommerce experience with the company’s vast catalog of modular products, home services, furniture and decor marketplace.

Commenting on the launch, Anuj Srivastava, CEO and Co-founder, Livspace said, “The Design Centers are inspired by our eighteen-months-long studies in Bangalore and research in the omnichannel buying behaviour exhibited by over 5000 homeowners buying interior design solutions, which range anywhere from 6 lacs to over 15 lacs.  Our Design Centers — first of their kind in India — allow consumers to select one of the pre-designed looks on our website, customize them from our library of over 10,000 finishes, see the various looks in our Design Centers, get a virtual reality experience, and, do all this seamlessly between our website and physical locations. This omnichannel experience reduces the time customers take to finalize their order from 6-8 weeks in the traditional model to 2-3 with Livspace, by easing several key steps in the customer journey - selection, visualization, personalization, automated order placement and final installation from certified professionals. Additionally, the Design Centers inspire trust and also help in increasing the order size by over 30% in the purchase cycle.”

Commenting on the launch, Vishal Gupta, Managing Director, Bessemer Venture Partners, said, “The new home market is buoyant across metros and the broader interior and modular industry are flourishing. For companies which operate in a high-disruption potential and high-involvement environment like home design, only an innovative and well integrated online to offline format can ensure sustained growth and market leadership. The need of the hour is to integrate experiences across channels through an omni-channel approach. We are positive that Livspace, with its product and business thinking that’s creating the industry, is poised to acquire a larger market share away from the unorganized competition. Their experiment with VR in their Design Centers will further strengthen their true omnichannel approach.”

Speaking of the virtual reality experience, Ramakant Sharma, CTO and Co-founder, Livspace said “Virtual reality offers a very immersive visualization experience that’s revolutionary for the larger interior industry. At the Livspace Design Centers, with their dedicated VR zones, you can experience homes in VR, from an ever-expanding library. The deterrent with creating VR-supported designs has always been time and cost. But in the time to come, we have plans to integrate virtual reality into the Livspace Design Platform such that every designer can create virtual reality instances quickly and easily, and each customer will be able to view their home design — in real time on VR devices, or as 360 degree videos remotely. The integration will bring VR experience to all homeowners.”

Founded in 2014, Livspace.com is India’s first and largest end-to-end home design and execution platform offering complete interiors and modular solutions for new home and remodelling customers. Bringing together the best designers, contractors and vendors in one technology and omni channel platform, Livspace makes the process of home design more convenient, efficient and easier. Right from planning the layout of your apartment to installing your modular kitchen, Livspace is your one stop for complete home interiors.

Led by Helion Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Jungle Ventures, Livspace has raised over $27 million in investments.

Livspace Raises Rs 100 Cr Led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Jungle Ventures, and Helion

Livspace, Indian online home design company and the world’s first design automation platform, today announced that it has raised INR 100 crore from existing investors in its third round of funding. The round was led by Bessemer Ventures Partners with increased participation from Jungle Ventures and Helion. This round of funding comes within weeks of the launch of the world’s first ‘Home Design Automation Platform’. The funds will be used to expand operational footprint across metro cities (NOIDA, Gurgaon, Mumbai in 2016 and Pune, Hyderabad in 2017), set up new Livspace design studios with VR technology integration for the best home design experience, expand the design automation platform across thousands of freelance designers in the country, and strengthen the catalog depth, launch new modular products, and further optimize the backend technology.

Founded by Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma, Livspace is home to India’s biggest community of home design enthusiasts (over 600 thousand) and India’s largest community of home designers. Launched in December 2014, Livspace has raised $27.6M since inception. Livspace pioneered the end-to-end home design experience in India and, within the first year of its launch, Livspace made three acquisitions – DezignUp, Dwll.in, YoFloor and launched an exclusive line of Modular Kitchen and Wardrobe systems with deep eCommerce integration which now generates over 50% of Livspace’s business. Over the next year, Livspace aims to dramatically scale customer experience and make it rich, transparent, and predictable such that anyone can have a beautiful home in less than 12 weeks and modular installations in 8 weeks in India.

Anuj Srivastava, CEO and Co-founder of Livspace said, “We’ve built an enviable company which is truly a pioneer in its space worldwide. Ramakant and I want to create a truly innovative technology company out of India, with large scale revenue, and a commercially profitable footprint. By combining the principles of platform, technology and design, we have built Livspace into a technology-driven, consumer internet company that continues to make explosive growth across all business metrics”.

Speaking on the investment, Vishal Gupta, Managing Director, Bessemer Venture Partners, "We are very impressed with the pioneering approach, traction, and commercial scale achieved by Livspace, in a short period of time. Livspace is already India's largest online home design company and continues to see tremendous demand side scale due to the recently announced home design automation platform. Anuj and Ramakant are seasoned entrepreneurs and we are thrilled to partner with them and grow Livspace into one of India's most admired venture backed company.”

Amit Anand, Founding and Managing Partner, Jungle Ventures, added, “Anuj and Ramakant are top tier entrepreneurs who’ve created a truly pioneering idea out of India. It’s truly extensible across many cities across the world as the problem they’re solving is unique, pertinent, and fragmented the world over. I have only seen them go strength-to-strength and create an enviable team, a customer experience, and scale not seen before in the industry. We wish them well in the journey and are excited to build an exciting worldwide story.”

The home industry is estimated to be anywhere between $25-30B but over 95% of it is unorganized and serviced by turnkey contractors, small studios, freelance designers, and carpenters. Livspace sees a tremendous opportunity in adopting a platform driven approach which borrows from the principles of platforms like Uber, AirBnB, etc. to create design entrepreneurs and reduce fragmentation in the industry.  Livspace will also invest in technology, to streamline hundreds of contract manufacturers, modular furniture companies, home design services, decor marketplace, etc. and bring them under one platform. This will create supply side scale, creating huge benefits to customers.