Gurugram flat to Y Combinator
CityFurnish turned into founded in 2015 with the aid of Neerav Jain, a former intern at furnishings and fixtures omnichannel store Pepperfry. Hailing from a family of furnishings-makers in Jodhpur, Neerav wanted to explore the rentals space that had picked up in India with extra salaried young adults residing away from their hometowns and shifting houses frequently. These individuals had additionally started warming up to the concept of rented beds, sofas, and tables instead of own goods, which not handiest incur higher charges however also make city-hopping harder.
By the time Neerav started CityFurnish from his Gurugram flat in conjunction with co-founder Saurabh Gupta, India’s furniture condominium marketplace had already seen Furlenco (2011) and Rentomojo (2014) – startups that set the tone for furnishings lending within the USA. Neerav knew he had something extra to offer, particularly in terms of the excellent consumer experience.
The Founder-CEO tells YourStory, “When we began, almost ninety-nine percent of humans in India sold furniture. Renting and subscription became a very area of interest category as it became regarded down upon as a compromise on both service or product. We have been trying to alternate that notion and affect consumer behavior. We did now not need our clients to sense inferior for renting fixtures.”The three-year tale
CityFurnish commenced with just 50 leases (or subscriptions) in Gurugram. Since then, the startup has grown to approximately 10,000 stay subscriptions in 3 years, with Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Pune. It has additional nine fulfillment centers in five cities and extended its fixtures lock-in duration from 3-6 months to 24 months.
“With volume and scale, we have been capable of reach the inflection point of 24 months, where clients are happy to subscribe to a furnishings bundle for longer,” says Neerav. Longer subscriptions have also been beneficial for the employer. He explains,
With extra sticky customers, sales are searching up as well. CityFurnish claims that it has hit an ARR of $3 million, and its sales are growing one hundred fifty percentage 12 months-on-year. Subscribers, in the meantime, are growing eleven percent month-on-month with a 1.Five percent churn (people who drop out).
“When we started, we were greater focussed on obtaining customers. Now, we need to keep the extra. So, we’re presenting a 30-40 percentage fee benefit to renewing customers,” Neerav says. “We have additionally launched a loose relocation carrier for clients who’re moving towns in the middle of their subscriptions,” he adds.