Vaaree, a marketplace for home furnishings, decor, and accessories for Indian shoppers, announced on Tuesday that it raised $4 million in a seed funding round led by Surge, Peak XV’s accelerator program.
Other investors in this round include PeerCapital, All In Capital, and Better Capital. The company plans to use the new funding to ramp up hiring and improve the user experience on its online platform.
Additionally, the funding will support essential areas, like curation, merchandising, and supply chains, as mentioned by co-founder Varun Vohra.
Vaaree, with a strong emphasis on affordability, presents products sourced from meticulously chosen manufacturers. By employing a factory-to-home model, the company strives to optimize logistics and supply chain operations, all the while maintaining minimal advertising and packaging costs, enabling them to provide competitive prices.
In late October, Vaaree inaugurated its first retail store at the Forum South Bangalore Mall, serving as an experience center to engage customers. Approximately 2,000 of the 20,000 products in their inventory are displayed in the shop.
“Offline is a brand story, to encourage online behaviour… SKUs will just double over the next two quarters on the website… We’re aiming to grow 6x to 8x by next September,” co-founder Garima Luthra said.
Their product range encompasses kitchenware, bedding, barware, cast iron cookware, and fitted bedding, some of which quickly sold out during the store’s first week.
Founded in February 2022 by Luthra, Vohra, and Pranav Arora, Vaaree initiated its online operations in May 2022 and has successfully delivered over 150,000 products.
Before this, the company secured pre-seed funding in early 2022 from notable investors like Kunal Shah, Arjun Vaidya, Vineeta Singh, Ghazal Alagh, Varun Dua, and Anjali Bansal.
Luthra, an alumnus of Punjab Engineering College, previously gained experience in startups like Blinkit, Furlenco, Acko, and Cred. Arora, who attended Panjab University, co-owned and managed Aaywon Lamitubes and Packaging Solutions for over a decade.
Vohra, an alumnus of BITS Pilani, has a track record of serial entrepreneurship, having founded and successfully exited two businesses: Aknamed (acquired by API Holdings in 2021) and Genii (acquired by Practo in 2015).
