The Turkish online furniture platform has secured a USD 130 million investment from the local private equity firm Actera Group, Istanbul-based Vivense announced in a statement on Tuesday. The investment includes a secondary sale by early investors Berlin-based Earlybird Venture Capital and New York-based FJ Labs. Both have apparently fully exited the startup. Earlybird was also an early investor in Peak Game, the Turkish mobile gaming startup that was acquired last month by Zynga for USD 1.8 billion.
Founded in 2013 by Kemal Erol, Vivense’s platform sells furniture all over Turkey. The online shop is complemented by Vivense’s 53 experience centers, small showrooms across the country that employ interior designers to help customers make their purchase decisions. The startup sources furniture from about 500 manufacturers in Turkey and claims to have served over 1 million households in its almost seven years of existence.
Vivense manages the entire sales cycle with fulfillment centers spread over a total area of 50,000 square meters and own last-mile delivery teams with branded vehicles who also assemble the furniture for customers. The platform sells tens of thousands of products in different categories of home furniture.
Kemal Erol, Vivense’s founder & CEO, who previously led Rocket Internet’s furniture venture Westwing in Turkey, said he is very excited about the investment: “The fact that we share our vision of turning Vivense into a globally inspiring, innovative, and professional home and lifestyle brand, with Actera, makes the investment very meaningful.”
He explained that the capital will be used to further strengthen their logistics and delivery infrastructure and development of technology: “We continue to increase the number of our showrooms and sales points.”
After its successful run in the local market, the startup is looking to expand globally starting with the United Kingdom where it’s opening its first showroom in September later this year, which will be followed with the launch of its online platform next year.
Vivense had raised close to USD 20 million before this investment in multiple rounds, according to publicly available data. Most of these rounds were led by Earlybird.
This article first appeared in MENAbytes. Featured photo: Vivense CEO Kemal Erol.
