OfficeBanao, an Indian startup offering a workspace interiors platform to businesses in the country, has raised $6 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed.

In India’s competitive workspace interior market, traditional providers have long dominated the landscape, often requiring substantial investment of time and resources for clients to achieve their desired results. Furthermore, many of these established firms primarily target large corporations, offering only partial solutions that leave customers seeking third-party assistance to fully design their new or existing office spaces. OfficeBanao is challenging this status quo with its comprehensive, end-to-end service, which features an interactive visual design process tailored to businesses of all sizes — from small and mid-sized enterprises to ambitious startups and established giants.

The Gurugram-headquartered startup’s platform brings architects, contractors, designers, material suppliers and even office furniture providers together under one umbrella, streamlining the process for clients. Catering to a diverse range of commercial interiors, the startup covers all stages of design, procurement, and execution for projects that span from modest $12,200 office spaces to sprawling $610,000 designs and beyond.

Additionally, OfficeBanao is using newer technology to advance the interior design process for workspaces. By expediting the fulfillment of design requirements and streamlining operations, the platform not only delivers greater efficiency for clients but also ensures a seamless experience for service providers.

Historically, workspace interior providers have turned to tools such as AutoCAD, 3ds Max and even Excel spreadsheets to manage their operations. OfficeBanao is taking a stab at it through a tech suite that elevates the industry standard, the startup says. This suite features an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that supplants traditional spreadsheet usage, an innovative technology layer that integrates seamlessly with AutoCAD to grant clients straightforward access and a proprietary 3D solution capable of previewing an astonishing 10,000 options for boardrooms or meeting spaces in mere seconds, OfficeBanao co-founder and CEO Tushar Mittal said in an interview.

Mittal co-founded OfficeBanao in January 2022 with Akshya Kumar (CTO) and Divyanshu Sharma (CBO and CPO) after spending years in the industry designing and building workspaces for multinational clients at real-estate developer DLF and interior design firm SKV. The founders’ experience and know-how about the market have helped bring a competitive edge to the startup against the competition, they say.

“There is a huge demand… but the only problem is it is not vertically integrated anywhere. So, people are going here and there and not getting a one-stop solution,” he said while answering how OfficeBanao stands differently.

The level of transparency the startup offers to its clients and supply chain also makes it different from the other players in the market, he added.

OfficeBanao currently has customers in more than 15 cities, including in some of the untapped tier-2 cities of the country. Over the next few months, the startup is looking to expand to the top 25 markets. It also leverages platforms such as LinkedIn and Instagram to attract new customers in different markets.

The startup plans to deploy the all-equity seed funding and partnership from Lightspeed India Venture Partners to expand its headcount from the current 110 to 250-300 people by the end of the year to create a solid technology-driven foundation and better meet the demand.

Mittal told TechCrunch that OfficeBanao has a revenue run rate of around $5 million per quarter and is improving every quarter. The startup was all bootstrapped until now.

“OfficeBanao is a mission-driven company, committed to making a meaningful difference in how workspaces are developed in India. We are delighted to partner with them and are excited to see how they transform this market,” said Rahul Taneja, partner, Lightspeed, in a prepared statement.

“With depth of experience and supplier network, the team is best placed to disrupt the existing opaque and sub-par experience that plagues the industry today. It is encouraging to see the early progress, the sustainable business model and most importantly, the customer delight they have delivered – and we look forward to their continued expansion.”

Lightspeed fuels Indian workspace interiors platform OfficeBanao with 6M funding by Jagmeet Singh originally published on TechCrunch

https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/10/officebanao-funding-lightspeed/