There’s something to be said about clichés — at the end of the day, they only became tired tropes because, well, they were so often applicable. So when we say that, when one door closed for Homee, another one opened, we mean that when the interior design startup’s “Shark Tank” deal fell through, Tinder CEO Sean Rad pulled through.
That’s right — in a rather unlikely match, the head of the controversial dating app has become a personal investor in Homee, a furniture and home design iOS app that helps millennials (and anyone else) furnish their home with stylish, affordable, and unique furniture.
Think of it as Pinterest IRL — by using a conglomeration of both artificial intelligence and human designers, users will be greeted by a curated list of potential home furnishings for an entire apartment or specific room. And if you like what you see, you can order it and get it delivered right to your doorstep.
Sure, it sounds a little bit like other more established players in the digital interior design space (like the ever-growing Laurel & Wolf), but as Homee explains on its website, “Think of Homee as your stylish friend that always hooks you up with pieces that are right for you at the best price points around. The best part is that you can try it out at no risk because our entire design service is on the house!”
And apparently, that’s convincing enough for Sean Rad, who is not only an investor, but is now joining the firm’s board of directors. “What everyone sees today is merely a step in the team’s vision to dramatically simplify the process of buying furniture,” Rad said. “I love their vision and I’m a big believer in [Homee co-founder and CEO] Beatrice and the rest of the talented team.”
To date, the app, which has only just come out of its beta phase, has raised over $7 million.
“The furniture and interior design industries are extremely fragmented and have failed to address new shopping patterns of today’s on-the-go consumers. Homee is ushering in a new way to shop for furniture using conversational commerce and an on-demand design service,” explains Beatrice Fischel-Bock, co-founder & CEO of Homee. “With this investment we are thrilled to continue growing exponentially and bring mobile to the forefront of our industry by tapping into a generation that demands instant gratification at their fingertips, which is exactly what Homee brings to its users.”
So if you’re in need of some serious design help for your new pad (because let’s face it, those of us who are in our early 20’s really don’t know what we’re doing), Homee is here to help.
