Inside HomeLane’s Decade-Long Quest To Organise Home Interiors And Build A ₹1,000 Cr Business

Twelve years ago, the founders of Bengaluru-based interior design startup HomeLane, entered a highly fragmented home interiors market, dominated by local carpenters and contractors, with little price transparency, standardisation or accountability. 

For them, the premise was straightforward: use technology and processes to bring predictability and transparency to an industry where homeowners were grappling with cost overruns, delayed deliveries and inconsistent quality.

“Our vision was to bring the entire customer journey on one connected platform, so everything could be managed in one place instead of separate systems,” Iyer said.

Therefore, the founders started building proprietary software, standardised project management systems and manufacturing partnerships. 

Back then, HomeLane was barely doing one project a week. As the systems matured, customers started talking about its fixed pricing, design transparency and committed delivery schedules. The word spread like wildfire, and within four years, monthly deliveries rose to nearly 100 homes. That early bet has since transformed HomeLane into one of India’s largest organised home interiors companies. 

Today, it operates across more than 45 cities through over 90 experience centres, has delivered over 70,000 homes and completes nearly 1,000 projects every month.

“We started with a simple customer problem in mind. I wanted to solve it at scale. I never imagined we would become this large,” Iyer recalled.

Today, the company’s financial performance reflects the scale of that vision. While HomeLane is yet to disclose its unaudited FY26 financials, it entered the year from a position of strength. In FY25, revenue from operations grew 22% year-on-year to ₹747.8 Cr from ₹613.6 Cr, while net losses narrowed more than 8% to ₹111.38 Cr. It has so far raised a total of $194 Mn and is backed by investors such as Accel, Peak XV and IIFL.

Yet, for HomeLane’s founders, it was never just about chasing the next leg of revenue growth. It was about solving customer problems at scale while laying the groundwork for what comes next.

Taking On Livspace’s Turf 

When HomeLane began operations, most homeowners treated interior design as the final step before moving in. Spending was largely limited to essentials such as modular kitchens and wardrobes, while personalised interiors remained a discretionary expense.

Over the past decade, this mindset has changed significantly. Beyond kitchens and wardrobes, customers now seek dedicated workspaces, gaming rooms, pet-friendly layouts, children’s activity areas, entertainment units and multifunctional living spaces tailored to their routines.

“Ten years ago, most customers asked us to design a kitchen or a wardrobe. Today they’re asking us to design how they live. Homes have become a reflection of people’s personalities and lifestyles, and that’s fundamentally changed both customer expectations and spending,” Iyer said. 

The pandemic accelerated this shift as homes simultaneously became offices, classrooms and recreation spaces. As a result, HomeLane’s average order value nearly doubled, reflecting both higher aspirations and broader project scopes.

HomeLane is now planning to expand beyond modular interiors into adjacent categories such as false ceilings, wallpapers, curtains, soft furnishings, kitchen appliances and broader home improvement solutions. “The aim is to increase customer lifetime value while positioning ourselves as a comprehensive home solutions brand,” Iyer said. 

The move places it in direct competition with Livspace, which has spent the past few years broadening its offerings from modular interiors to end-to-end home renovation, including civil work, electricals, furnishing and décor. 

According to Iyer, HomeLane has an edge, thanks to its acquisition of DesignCafe, a home interior solutions brand. 

Acquisition Of DesignCafe Becomes A Turning Point

HomeLane acquired DesignCafe in September 2024, alongside a ₹225 Cr fundraise. The transaction created one of India’s largest organised home interiors platforms, with both brands continuing to operate independently while leveraging shared technology, procurement, manufacturing and supply chain capabilities. 

The strategic rationale was clear: build scale through consolidation while improving operating efficiencies. Instead of pursuing break-neck growth and expanding its footprint aggressively, HomeLane spent time integrating Design Cafe’s operations, streamlining processes and strengthening unit economics across the combined business.

“We didn’t grow much in FY26 because the focus was on building a stronger, more efficient operating platform rather than maximising topline growth,” Iyer said.

The investment in integration now appears to be paying off. With the heavy lifting largely complete, Iyer claims the company is currently seeing around 35% year-on-year growth, with profitability on the anvil.

“Having spent the past year integrating Design Cafe, improving operational efficiencies and strengthening unit economics, HomeLane is now focused on crossing ₹1,000 Cr in revenue while achieving sustained EBITDA profitability in FY27,” said Iyer.

Notably, this milestone was earlier set for FY25, which has now been deferred. 

Building Its Next Growth Engine 

Technology has been at the core of HomeLane’s business from day one. Long before AI became the industry’s buzzword, the company built an integrated platform that connects design visualisation, pricing, procurement, project management, manufacturing and installation.

That investment paid off during the pandemic, when HomeLane continued designing homes remotely through virtual consultations while much of the industry slowed down. More importantly, it created the data foundation for the company’s next phase, which was to adopt AI at scale.

For most homeowners, the design journey begins with Pinterest boards and Instagram reels. Turning those ideas into a practical home, however, often takes multiple consultations and countless revisions. HomeLane believes AI can change that.

Having catered to more than 70,000 homes, the company has built a design dataset spanning nearly 2,80,000 rooms. “Every home we’ve designed has taught us something. When you have that much historical design data, AI becomes far more meaningful because it is learning from actual customer preferences rather than generic templates,” Iyer said.

The impact is already visible. According to HomeLane, AI has reduced the time needed to create an initial design from three to four hours to about five minutes, with nearly half of its design workflow now AI-assisted. Instead of starting from a blank screen, designers begin with AI-generated layouts and refine them with customers.

But Iyer doesn’t believe AI will replace designers. “People don’t buy homes the way they buy a shirt online. Designing a home requires emotional investment. AI can make our designers more productive, but the relationship with the customer will continue to remain human.”

Beyond design generation, HomeLane is also using AI to personalise recommendations, improve project planning and automate routine tasks.

The Next Big Quest

India’s home interiors market remains one of the country’s largest yet least organised consumer sectors. Industry estimates peg the market at over $30 Bn, but organised brands still account for only a fraction of it. The majority of homeowners continue to rely on local carpenters and contractors. 

For HomeLane, the next phase of growth is therefore unlikely to be driven solely by expanding into newer cities or opening more experience centres. Instead, the company is looking to deepen its relationship with customers by broadening its portfolio beyond modular kitchens and wardrobes into adjacent categories.The strategy reflects a larger shift in the industry, where consumers increasingly prefer integrated solutions from a single provider rather than coordinating multiple vendors for different aspects of their homes.

However, growth alone is no longer enough. As India’s startup ecosystem matures, investors and public markets are placing greater emphasis on businesses that can combine scale with sustainable profitability. HomeLane’s decision to spend the past year integrating Design Cafe and strengthening unit economics, rather than chasing aggressive topline growth, reflects this changing reality. 

The company’s next milestone will not simply be crossing the ₹1,000 Cr revenue mark, but demonstrating that operational discipline and healthy margins can coexist in a business that has traditionally been viewed as execution-intensive and asset-heavy.

Competition, meanwhile, is entering a new phase. Rivals Livspace and Bonito Designs are all expanding their presence, while regional brands continue to command strong local customer relationships.

Beyond organised competitors, HomeLane is also contending with thousands of independent architects, interior designers and contractors who continue to dominate the market through personalised service and pricing flexibility. Winning market share, therefore, will depend as much on consistently delivering projects on time and within budget as it will on introducing new technology or expanding into new categories.

[Edited by Shishir Parasher]

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