Mebelkart was an online marketplace for furniture and household goods headquartered in Bangalore, India.[1]
 | |
| Industry | Home & Living Online shopping (E-commerce) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2012 |
| Headquarters | Bangalore, India |
Area served | India |
Key people | |
| Products |
|
| Website | mebelkart.com |
Overview
editMebelkart was a managed marketplace, providing contact between vendors and buyers of furniture, home furnishings and related products,[2][3] In November 2015, Mebelkart also began to provide contact between interior designers and consumers.[4][5][6]
History
editMebelkart was started by Rahul Agrawal (alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur), Ranjeet Vimal (alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay) and Nikhil Saraf (alumnus of BITS Pilani) in November, 2012.[7]
In 2015, Mebelkart acquired 53central, a crowd bargaining platform that enables group buying options for sports enthusiasts, for an undisclosed amount.[8]
In August 2015, AskMe.com, an online search, listings and deals portal, invested $20 million in Mebelkart and acquired a significant market share in it.[9][10]
Mebelkart ceased to operate in early 2017 owing to inability to close a fresh round of funding.
Controversies
editIn April 2016, the online furniture store Housefull International sued Mebelkart for selling imitations and defaulting on its payments. Housefull had ceased its association with Mebelkart some months earlier as the marketplace had large outstanding debts, but claimed that fake Housefull products were still being sold through Mebelkart's website.[11][12]
DNA India reported in June 2016 that several different vendors claimed that Mebelkart had been withholding payments, and as a result the vendors had stopped selling their products through the marketplace.[13]
References
edit- ^ "Rahul Agrawal, Co-Founder and CEO, MebelKart". India Infoline. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- ^ "Mebelkart in talks with major realty players". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "This online furniture startup is venturing where bigger rivals have failed to tread". Tech In Asia. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- ^ "Mebelkart ties up with 27,000 interior designers". The Financial Express. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
- ^ "Mebelkart is betting interior design unit will become bigger than furniture e-com". 1 February 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
- ^ "Our vision is to design every home in India, says Mebelkart CEO, Rahul Agrawal". DNA. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
- ^ "Koramangala based startup Mebelkart.com finds huge local market for selling furniture online". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 15 August 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
- ^ "Mebelkart acquires crowd bargaining platform 53central". The Times Of India. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
- ^ "AskMe invests $20 mn in online furniture marketplace MebelKart". Live Mint. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ Chengappa, Sangeetha. "Mebelkart to close fresh funding round". Business Line. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- ^ Ganguly (27 April 2016). "Housefull pushes Mebelkart to court for fakes". The Economic Times. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- ^ "Housefull International Sends Legal Notice To MebelKart; Accuses It Of Default Payments & Selling Imitations". Inc42 Media. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- ^ "AskMe, Mebelkart vendors cry foul over delayed payments". Daily News and Analysis. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
Further reading
edit- Borpuzari, Pranbihanga (18 May 2016). "MebelKart bets on 'localization' formula for online furniture retail". The Economic Times. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
- Bali, Shinmin (21 June 2016). "MebelKart.com ad is funny, but is it too late for it in e-furniture race". The Financial Express. Retrieved 28 January 2017.