ValueQuest, a mid-market private equity fund focusing on growth to late-stage investments, has picked a stake in furniture and appliances rental platform Rentomojo as part of the startup’s Series D funding round.
The PE firm, which backed the company from its S.C.A.L.E. Fund, invested in a mix of primary and secondary purchases for a minority stake. The details of the stake or amount invested were not disclosed.
Rentomojo plans to use the funds for further expansion. The company plans to expand its offline centres beyond Bangalore to cover other major metro cities, prioritising technology as part of its growth strategy, it said in a release.
Rentomojo claims that it has served over 450,000 customers across 16 cities. It operates an omnichannel platform.
"The investment from ValueQuest extends beyond funding; it also brings invaluable intellectual capital to the table," said Geetansh Bamania, founder and chief executive officer of Rentomojo. “We aim to capitalize on their extensive expertise in both private and public equity to enhance our strategies and operations.”
ValueQuest S.C.A.L.E. is targeting to raise Rs 1,000 crore, along with a green shoe option of Rs 300 crore. The fund invests in companies with strong unit economics with a proven model. It is looking to build a portfolio of 10-20 mid-to-late-stage companies.
“Consumption is one of the key themes in our portfolio construction approach and we are glad to collaborate with Rentomojo – a consumer-tech play in furniture and appliances renting model,” said Pushkar Jauhari, managing director and head of private equity at ValueQuest. “It is one of the rare new-age businesses having scaled up with profitability aligning with our investment approach geared towards growth-stage companies.”
In the financial year through March 2023, Rentomojo posted a revenue of Rs 121 crore, up from Rs 98.6 crore in the fiscal before, according to VCCEdge, the data research platform of VCCircle.
The company also turned profitable in FY23 with a net profit of Rs 6.2 crore against a net loss of Rs 13.6 crore a year ago.