Dive Brief:
- Decorist, a home design startup, raised $4.5 million in funding from Lowe's, the Women's Venture Capital Fund, and other undisclosed angel investors.
- The company, an online platform that gives users the opportunity to connect with designers for ideas and buy products, was launched last year by CEO Gretchen Hansen.
- Decorist's revenue comes from a combination of professional decorator consultations and the actual purchasing of products through the site. Hansen said the company has grown to reach the point where the average customer's shopping cart is $3,000.
Dive Insight:
Decorist hopes to take the successful precedent set by interior design idea site Houzz one step further by offering advice at the beginning of a project as well as the ability to purchase after deciding on the desired items.
The involvement of Lowe's in a startup is unsurprising, as the company is also a lead investor in Porch.com, a site based in Seattle that assists consumers with planning home remodels.
USA Today Money reports the trend of investing in industry tech startups is continuing to grow, as the new companies offer ways to make e-commerce simpler and make luxury services more accessible to the public.
Hansen said of her company's recent cash infusion: "There’s a perfect storm opportunity for personalized online help now... When it comes to decorating, there are sites such as Houzz and Pinterest that give you great ideas, and others such as Gilt and One King’s Lane that sell really nice things at a reasonable price. But no one was putting those pieces together, and that’s where we come in."
