HomeLane eyes Rs 1,500-crore IPO by mid-2022

Bank of America, Axis Capital and

have been hired to run the initial public offering (IPO), said the people. They said 25-30% stake will be offered in the proposed IPO.

It will be a combination of primary and secondary shares where some existing investors, including Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners, will make part exits.

At present, about 70% stake in Bengaluru-based HomeLane is held by investors including Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, IIFL AMC, Oman India Joint Investment Fund, Stride Ventures, Pidilite, Evolvence, K Ganesh-backed Growth Story, Aarin Capital, Baring Private Equity Partners, RB Investments, JSW Ventures and NuVentures.

HomeLane CEO Srikanth Iyer and Sequoia spokesperson declined to comment on the matter while queries emailed to Accel Partners did not elicit any response.

Founded in 2014 by Srikanth Iyer and Tanuj Choudhry, HomeLane provides end-to-end personalised home interior solutions. The company has served more than 20,000 customers through 34 experience centres in 19 cities of India.

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In September, HomeLane had raised Rs 370 crore ($50 million) in a Series E funding round led by IIFL AMC’s Late Stage Tech Fund, Oman India Joint Investment Fund and Stride Ventures. The company has raised a total of more than Rs 765 crore ($104 million) in the past seven years. In this latest round, HomeLane was valued at Rs3600 crore, said sources. It reported revenue of Rs 270 crore for 2020-21.

In August last year, HomeLane had joined hands with Dhoni as an equity partner and brand ambassador. He is HomeLane’s first brand ambassador and the first celebrity to endorse an end-to-end home interiors brand.

Last week, an employee stock option plan (Esop) worth Rs. 27 crore was bought back by the company. Former employees were offered 100% liquidity, while active employees had the option to exercise up to 35% of their vested Esops.

In the recent past, a handful of Indian home interior startups have been on the radar of global investors.

Startups such as HomeLane , Livspace , Tomorrow Capital-backed Bonito Designs , Accel Partners-backed Spacejoy and Infurnia keep expanding the businesses by leveraging investors’ funding.

Bengaluru-based Livspace has raised a cumulative capital of $228 million till date. It is backed by Ingka Investments, TPG Growth, Goldman Sachs, UC-RNT, Bessemer Ventures, Tahoe Investment Group, Mercer Investments, EDB Investments, Trifecta Capital, Saint Gobain, Saudi retail firm ASG and Kharis Capital.

KKR & Co is reportedly in advanced talks to invest about $200 million in Livspace, at a post-money valuation of $1.3 billion.

The Indian interior design market, driven by the fast-growing real estate market, was worth $23 billion in 2020 and expected to add $15 billion more in the next seven years.

Indian companies could have raised a record $16.59 billion through 120 public offers in 2021, compared to $3.64 billion raised through 44 issues a year ago, according to data compiled by Refinitiv.

Eight Indian technology startups got listed in 2021 and the IPO spree is expected to continue, according to bankers and analysts. Excluding LIC, as much as Rs 44,000 crore is likely to be mopped up by March 31, 2022.