How Cityfurnish is Revolutionizing the Furniture Industry with Easy Monthly Rentals The Gurugram-based company has over 60 B2B clients catering to student housing, co-living and co-working spaces
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Blenders Pride Reserve Collection presented Entrepreneur India's 35Under35 2020 list which included some leading names from the field of entrepreneurship and Neerav Jain made it to the coveted list.
The accelerating trend of people relocating for better job opportunities and higher education helped strengthen Neerav Jain's belief that a furniture and consumer goods rental business was the need of the hour. In September 2015, along with Saurabh Gupta, Jain founded Cityfurnish.
"An average Indian between the age of 18-29 years is moving between jobs every 1.5 to 2 years. That mobility keeps increasing and as more people are moving in and out of Tier-I cities, they will require solutions which are flexible and convenient like furniture rental as against furniture buying," Jain shares.
Happy to Rent
Cityfurnish helps individuals and corporates to furnish their homes or offices by renting furniture and appliances without the burden of heavy investment. The start-up also has an in-house team for repairing of appliances along with insurance on those assets. "Out of 12,000+ subscriptions, we have less than 0.8 per cent cases where the assets were damaged beyond use. 39 per cent of our users extend after the initial 11 months' period. With an average rental duration currently ranging between 11-12 months and a lock-in period of three months, users can continue for as long as they want to. So the total tenure extends between 11-19 months," he explains.
The Gurugram-based company has a team of 115 people across its two major corporate offices. It has over 60 B2B clients catering to student housing, co-living and co-working spaces. By the end of this year, the start-up plans another 15-20 million equity round and wants to grow at its own pace.
Realizing the lack of sufficient infrastructure in furniture delivery, Jain set up delivery warehouses in every city Cityfurnish operates in. The company also has its own staff which handles deliveries and is trained to provide customers with an almost ready-to-move-in experience.
"If you want any flexibility, you don't need to commit well in advance. You can keep renewing or extending the tenure. As you keep moving between cities, we keep furnishing it for you," Jain affirms.
(This article was first published in the February 2020 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)