When people were stuck at home and starving for some form of entertainment, they turned to home improvement projects. With the home now a place for work, school and leisure all at once, the do-it-yourself home improvement market has grown so much that it is expected to reach $514.9 billion by the end of the decade.
South Korean startup Bucketplace, which operates a home decorating and interior app called OHouse, has just raised $182 million in a Series D round.
Bucketplace will use the new funding to accelerate its growth in South Korea and enter into new markets, such as Japan, Southeast Asia and the U.S., according to Lee. Bucketplace plans to hire more tech specialists to help develop an augmented reality feature to help consumers visualize products in their own homes.
The funding comes just a few months after Bucketplace acquired Singapore-based online furniture platform HipVan, and Lee said that the company will continue to seek acquisition opportunities and strategic partnerships both in Korea and overseas markets.
The app is called OHouse.
OHouse was a community of people sharing interior design content eight years ago.
Home improvement enthusiasts and interior designers were able to post photos of their homes on the app. Users would peruse a wide selection of posts and purchase items they liked directly from the app. It has a similar business model to online showrooms like Houzz.
The startup aims to offer a variety of services that encompass almost everything involved in the residential space, ranging from home improvement, home repairs and maintenance to furniture delivery, moving services and even a garbage can pickup service.
OHouse launched a next-day furniture delivery service in June of last year. Users can connect with more than 5,000 home remodeling firms through the services it provides.
OHouse's augmented reality feature will involve users uploading photos of their homes to see how a piece of furniture would look within the space. If users want to buy furniture, they will be able to click on it, which will take them to the sellers website.
10 million users visit the platform each month across the app and website, the company says. OHouse has been downloaded more than 20 million times in South Korea, according to Bucketplace.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Bucketplace raised the Series D round at a post-money valuation of around $1.4 billion. The latest round nearly doubled the company's valuation, bringing its total raised to about $261 million. In November 2020, Bucketplace raised $70 million at a valuation of $890 million.
The investors in the Series D round include SoftBank, Singapore's Vertex Growth, Bond Capital, BRV Capital Management, Korea Development Bank, IMM Investment and Mirae Asset Capital.
Houzz adds a basic AR mode to its iOS apps to help you shop for furniture
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