Home Design Platform Kujiale Is Said to Raise USD 100 Million, Touching Unicorn Standard

Technology Author: Yang Shang Oct 03, 2019 11:35 PM (GMT+8)

With the valuation touching upon USD 1 billion, the initial public offering has been on the Kujiale's schedule after this fundraising, said the people familiar with the matter.

A home design example. Image credits to Unsplash.

China’s Home Design Platform Kujiale raised more than USD 100 million in series E round of financing, driving its valuation to USD 1 billion, touching upon the unicorn standard, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn't public.

The new funding was led by a reputable private equity institute and followed by several existed shareholders, and the initial public offering has been on the schedule after this fundraising, according to the people familiar with the matter.

The eight-year-old company focuses on developing a home decoration and furnishing online information and design platform. Centering in the design sector, Kujiale builds an ecosystem to connect global designers, home appliance brands, decoration services, and consumers, providing integrated solutions including design, marketing, manufacturing, management, and supply chain.

As of June, Kujiale’s platform has over 20 million registered users, more than 6.5 million designers and around 14,000 home appliance cooperating brands, generating more than 200,000 design plans every day, declared by the company.

More than an online information and transaction marketplace, Kujiale is also a tech-driven enterprise. The company launched a set of digitalized and intelligent solutions in June, covering 30 verticals and over 800 functions. By employing cloud computing, the process of image rendering and designing is available to be conducted online, which raised the efficiency and optimized the experience of consumers. Utilizing artificial intelligence and virtual reality, the tech company helps users easier to understand the plans.

The unicorn proposed its strategy for talent cultivation by founding the university, business school, online education platform, certification system for home industry and so on. The goal of the strategy shows Kujiale’s ambition: By 2020, one million people graduating from Kujiale’s education system, among which 100,000 people get certification and 10,000 talents join in cooperators of Kujiale.

Up to date, the company has completed five rounds of financing in a total of almost USD 300 million, carried by dozens of prominent investment institutes such as IDG Capital, GGV, MatrixPartners, Linear Venture, Shunwei Capital, Temasek-backed Pavilion Capital, and so on.