Having raised $5 million in Series B funding, this week, digital-native retailer Brosa is setting its sights on becoming a dominant omnichannel furniture brand.
In addition to securing additional capital from Series A investor AirTree Ventures, Brosa welcomed Bailador Technology and BMY Group as new investors. Since its$2 million Series A funding round in 2015, order volume from Brosa’s customers has increased ten-fold and its workforce has ballooned from 25 FTE employees to 70.
Brosa CEO Ivan Lim, who launched the Melbourne-based startup with co-founders David Wei and Richard Li in 2014, spoke with Dynamic Business about his plans to disrupt a $13 billion furniture industry. Meanwhile, David Kirk, Managing Partner at Bailador technology, provided comment on what attracted the VC fund to Brosa.
DB: What is the elevator pitch and origin story for Brosa?
Lim: Brosa is a disruptive furniture brand transforming the way people purchase unique designer pieces for the home. Due to its vertically-integrated model and digital first approach, Brosa – unlike most other retailers – manages and controls the entire supply chain from design to delivery, using powerful technology to create an effortless experience for customers.
The idea for Brosa was born out of the realisation that people who ‘graduate’ from IKEA, but don’t have $15k to spend on sofa, have very few options when it comes to beautiful designs at accessible prices. Additionally, my co-founders and I found the furniture buying process to be extremely painful – there’s a number of friction points that make it extremely daunting. We believed we could build a new retail model to address these pain points.
DB: What growth will the $5m Series B raise help unlock?
Lim: The capital injection will enable us to strengthen our vertically-integrated model and built-for-purpose technology platforms. This will involve hiring senior talent with solid backgrounds in software engineering, technology, and the furniture industry, to propel Brosa to the next stage of growth. The funding will also help us ramp up our physical retail concept stores, known as ‘Brosa Studios’.
DB: What criteria did you apply when seeking Series B investors?
Lim: Strategic alignment is incredibly important when bringing on investors. I had been speaking to Bailador since late 2016 and throughout that time, Andrea [Kowalski, Principal of Bailador) and his team got to know Brosa and spent time really fleshing out the problem we’re tackling. At the same time, we got to know Bailador and how they understood the opportunity. This time was really important because it ensured we were aligned on what we felt was critical for winning the market.
DB: In your view, what has drawn investors to your startup?
Lim: The transformative impact of technology-first retailers in product categories like fashion, books, shoes and groceries are apparent for all to see. We believe that Home and Living is the next industry awaiting the disruption that comes from technology enabled retailers. Our mission is to enable our customers to create a beautiful home painlessly. The only way to do this on scale is by building technology to reimagine the experience and remove friction for customers. Brosa is part of a new breed of Digitally Native Vertical Brands who have a deep understanding of their customers and orientate their business around delivering an amazing experience by leveraging technology.
Kirk: “Bailador has a growing portfolio of technology companies our investment in Brosa further diversifies the fund’s portfolio, adding exposure to an innovative B2C digital disruptor in retail. Technology shifts are dramatically changing consumer expectations in retail. The furniture sector has been slow to effectively address a large and growing cohort of online consumers. This has created an enormous opportunity for Brosa, which is led by an excellent management team with a proven ability to execute and we feel confident in the team and their vision. We are pleased to welcome Brosa into the fold and we are looking forward to supporting them on the next stage of their journey.”
DB: What are your ambitions for the future of Brosa?
Lim: We want to be the leading home and living retail brand in Australia and Asia Pacific. Our goal is to help customers create a beautiful home painlessly and we will execute that with our Digital First approach. Home and living retail is one of the biggest opportunities for retail disruption over the coming years and Brosa will be at the forefront of that wave.
With this fundraising, Brosa is set to become a dominant player in the $13 billion furniture industry (Euromonitor 2016), disrupting traditional brick-and-mortar retailers, not just the online ones, and will transition the company’s journey from a formidable online player to a dominant omnichannel furniture brand in 2018.
