Indonesian furniture ecommerce site Livaza gets seed funding from East Ventures

Indonesian furniture ecommerce site Livaza announced today that it recieved seed funding of an undisclosed amount from East Ventures. The startup revealed that the investment is in the six-figure ballpark. According to founder and CEO William Budiharsono, the funds will be used to drive the company’s organizational and tech improvements, as well as overall product development. (Disclosure: East Ventures also invests in Tech in Asia. See our ethics page.)

Livaza, derived from the words “living plaza,” was founded in February 2015 by Budiharsono with the help of local entrepreneurs and founding members Eric Lemuel and Made Cynthia Rini. Before the company started, all three of them had worked in consultancy firms, namely Boston Consulting Group and Accenture. Revano Satria, an Indonesian architect and interior designer, also joined the team from the beginning as chief design officer.

With Livaza, the trio wants to create the best online shopping experience for customers to get their hands on high-end luxurious furniture products at affordable prices.

“We have around 500 live SKUs and around 1,000 in pipeline, we aimed to have around 10,000 by end of this year,” says Budiharsono.

See: Furlenco raises $6 million to be the Uber for furniture in India

Livaza also offers young designers an opportunity to submit their own furniture designs to the company. “We help seasonal and full-time designers to see their creations come to life,” says Budiharsono. “They also can earn royalties when we market their products.”

The move from from East Ventures marks the first investment in the furniture vertical in Indonesia, mirroring trends in the Indian market, where investment in furniture ecommerce has already begun.

Managing partner of East Ventures Willson Cuaca believes in the future of Indonesia’s furniture market. “If you look at Indonesia’s second and third tier cities, other than convenience stores, furniture stores are flourishing and growing rapidly. This is an indicator for the lifestyle expectations of Indonesia’s fast growing middle class.”

In the long term, Livaza has ambitions for regional expansion. “We aim to earn 10 percent of market share across APAC in five years,” says Budiharsono.

In Indonesia, there aren’t many local websites yet that focus on selling designer furniture. But indirectly, Livaza competes with large retailers like IKEA and Kare, which both cater to the urban middle class and their increasing demand for stylish interiors.