Home and interior platform Livspace has partnered with Saudi Arabia-based retail conglomerate Alsulaiman Group to expand its operations in the Middle East region and is investing $50 million jointly to fuel growth.
The partners plan to on strengthen the team and hire around 100 employees across operations in the next couple of years, Anuj Srivastava, CEO and Founder, Livspace, told Moneycontrol in an interaction.
Alsulaiman Group is also the operating partner of Swedish home furnishing retailer IKEA in the region.
The company will also invest in top talent while onboarding over a thousand design and home improvement professional partners in the region by 2022.
Livspace will aim to capitalise on the opportunities in the home interiors and renovation segment in the Middle East and North Africa region starting with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiatives are sparking growth in home ownership.
The company which counts backers like Switzerland-based investment firm Kharis Capital, and Nicholas Cator’s Venturi Partners brings homeowners, design professionals, vendors and brands together on a single managed marketplace.
Livspace delivers designs, execution, renovation, and supply of materials, and fit out elements for bedrooms, living rooms, bathrooms and kitchens.
It is also focusing on new mobile applications, AI, ML retail technology and visualisation solutions for the home improvement industry.
"Livspace will rapidly continue to scale its business model across multiple regions and new markets across the globe starting with the APAC geography. Given our technology prowess, deep understanding of the supply fundamentals and the ready launch and scale template, we today dominate the market in the high growth India and Singapore markets. Our platform enables us to explore JV models to quickly expand our services in both new and existing markets," said Srivastava.
Livspace is looking to expand across 80 new cities globally starting with the APAC geography over the next 18-24 months.
"This partnership with Livspace will allow us to expand the scope of the customer experience from the beginning of the design of the home to the end of implementation, in an innovative and unique experience to turn the dreams of homeowners into reality. The companies of Alsulaiman Group, IKEA, Flow, Ehteraf, Salasa and other emerging investments, will continue to grow as an integrated ecosystem to enhance customers' lives through better experiences whether they access to our products online or through stores," said Saud Alsulaiman, Alsulaiman Group CEO.
