A Denver-based startup called Havenly is adding interior design to the ever-growing list of personalized and on-demand services that startups are offering, from car rides to home cleaning to new clothing.
And Havenly now has Series A funding to help it build out its interior design offerings, having received $7.5 million from the Foundry Group and other unnamed private investors. The company plans to make new hires in its marketing, operations, and technology departments, adding to an existing staff of 20, according to co-founder Emily Motayed.
Havenly also plans to use the funding to enhance its algorithms and user interface, adding to the tools that users can access when working on renderings and concepts of their potential room designs.
A customer who hopes to redesign a room in a home, but doesn’t want to pay the hundreds or thousands of dollars for an in-person consultation from an interior designer, can pay Havenly $79 for a revision of a room or $199 for an entirely new design for a room. The home owner would also have to pay for any furniture, painting, or installation costs.
Customers can hire one of more than 200 interior designers through Havenly, who work as contractors for the company. The designers get an undisclosed share of the revenue and a commission for each project they work on, Motayed wrote in an e-mail.
Havenly users can pick a designer after filling out a style survey. The designer will create two concept boards for the potential new room, and will work with the client on revisions, the company says. In the end, the user gets a final rendering and a list of items to buy (which Havenly offers on its website through partnerships with retailers) to make the design work, the company says.
Though Havenly does not offer installation services itself, it will connect users with contractors it has worked with previously, Motayed wrote.
Since it was founded in 2014, the company has worked with “thousands” of customers, Motayed wrote, adding that its base is growing by 20 percent to 30 percent each month.