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After Snapdeal, furniture e-tailer Urban Ladder catches fancy of Ratan Tata

Urban Ladder said that Tata's ‘inputs and guidance will be very valuable’ for the company, but did not disclose the amount and other details about this investment. This is Tata's second investment in Indian e-commerce business, after a previous investment he made in online marketplace major Snapdeal earlier in August this year.

The latest investment comes four months after Urban Ladder raised 'Series B funding' from Steadview Capital and existing investors SAIF Partners and Kalaari Capital. ‘Tata understands the furniture space very well, specially our focus on product design since he has a lot of knowledge of the subject. His inputs and guidance will be very valuable for us,’ Urban Ladder CEO and co-founder Ashish Goel said.

Launched in July 2012, Urban Ladder was co-founded by Ashish Goel and Rajiv Srivatsa. It offers over 1,000 products across 25 categories in furniture such as wardrobes, beds, sofas, dining tables and coffee tables. The firm aims to be the biggest furniture seller in India in the next 18 months. Ratan Tata, the chairman emeritus of Tata Group, has made a personal investment in online furniture company Urban Ladder. Tata had earlier invested in his personal capacity in another e-ecommerce company Snapdeal.

Tata had earlier said that e-commerce is one of the areas where is he looking to personally invest because of its ‘good potential’ as a large proportion of the country's consuming public does not have the required access to goods. Tata's investment in Urban Ladder comes four months after the company raised more funding from Steadview Capital and existing investors SAIF Partners and Kalaari Capital.

Urban Ladder offers over 1000 products across 25 categories in furniture such as wardrobes, beds, sofas, dining tables and coffee tables. Ratan Tata, a design enthusiast, holds a degree in Architecture from Cornell University.

‘Tata understands the furniture space very well, specially our focus on product design since he has a lot of knowledge of the subject. His inputs and guidance will be very valuable for us’ said Ashish Goel, CEO and co-founder of Urban Ladder.

Meanwhile, Ratan Tata has been appointed to the board of Interpol Foundation to contribute to its two new global initiatives aimed at combating organised crime and terrorist activities by the international police organisation.
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