This startup is betting you want to live on borrowed furniture

If that fabric sofa has hung around in your living room for too long, go for a plush leather alternative – for just US$7. Or why not re-furnish the entire two-bedroom apartment? All it will cost is US$120. We are talking monthly rentals here, and you don’t even have to go hunting from store to store.

A clutch of startups is making it possible for Indians to rent things – instead of splurging on them. For the sake of convenience, indulgence, or just to keep up with the Joneses, the concept is finding many takers among young Indians.

In a sign that India’s sharing economy is growing, online rentals site RentoMojo has raised US$2 million in series A funding from venture capital firms IDG Ventures India and Accel Partners India.

Barely a year after it was started by Geetansh Bamania and Ajay Nain, the startup supplies to 2,000 customers. It has a team of 50 and operates in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Pune as well as Bangalore where it is headquartered.

Geetansh, co-founder and CEO, Rentomojo, said, “We want our users to get access to a personalized lifestyle without actually owning it.”

The founders are speaking from personal experience. Here’s what they write on their blog: “Like many other young working professionals we were living in rented apartments, working long hours, sleeping on couches…we finally got us a queen-sized bed and a mattress for INR 15,000 (US$220) with the money that was meant to buy a Playstation. Ajay will never forget or forgive us for that.”

But when they shifted to a semi-furnished apartment, they ended up selling the bed for a paltry INR 2,850 (US$43)! That’s what got them to birth RentoMojo.

What’s for hire

The startup has a wide range of products on the table which it lets out for a minimum period of three months. Packages for the living room, bedroom, kitchen, laundry, and those that will furnish your apartment according to size are on offer.

So a compact studio package comes for INR 999 (US$15) whereas a luxury apartment package comes for INR 7,999 (US$120) – prices that might prove easy on the pocket for young working Indians in the 25-35 age group.

Users can pick from kitchen and home utility appliances like water purifiers, gas stoves, and induction plates to even simple things like clothes dryers and iron stands for anything between INR 99 (US$1.5) per month to 589 (US$9) per month. There are separate rental categories for furniture and office furniture too.

Adventure enthusiasts can dig into camp tents, cycles, motorcycles and sleeping bags, and more.

Rental startups

RentoMojo model