Kolo, a Bengaluru-based home construction and renovation app announced that it has secured $4M led by global VC RTP Global along with existing investor Better Capital.
How will the funding be used?
The company will use the funds to accelerate its growth and enhance its consumer-focused product offering, including the content recommendation engine, community offering, digital portfolio, and tools for professionals. Further, the company is also planning to expand its presence across India.
“Two key consumer behaviour trends drive our growth. First, consumers want to be involved in their renovation projects given the amount of money they spend and since the decision has a lasting impact on how they live. Previously they didn’t have avenues to learn about their choices except for their immediate relatives or friends. Second, is the influence of the media in driving transaction decisions. From coming up with suggestions to choosing the service provider based on photos/videos and learning about different roofing options they have, content informs and provides transparency hence puts the power in the hands of the consumer,” says Jery Althaf, Co-founder of Kolo.
Content-community mobile app
Founded by former team members of Southeast Asian unicorn’s Gojek – Jery Althaf, Pranav Garg, Aayush Sharda & Vivek Mittal in 2020, Kolo is a content-community mobile app, aimed at helping homeowners to build their dream home while helping construction professionals and brands to create a digital presence and tap into additional business opportunities.
The platform allows homeowners to explore design ideas, learn more about them, and work with professionals to make their ideas a reality.
On the other side, Kolo helps professionals create a digital portfolio, share their work (videos/photos/expertise) with homeowners and other professionals, and receive business opportunities.
Kolo says it has seen growth ten times over from the last fundraising.
“Home is a once-in-a-lifetime purchase for a majority of Indians who invest a significant amount of their wealth with a lot of passion in building their homes. However, in most cases, they go through a painful experience that is non-transparent & reliant on face-to-face interactions and manual processes. We aim to disrupt the space using technology, building content-based mobile-first solutions to democratise information & create a one-stop solution for homeowners, service professionals & building material providers.” adds Vivek Mittal, Co-founder of Kolo.
Investor
RTP Global is a venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology investments. It supports young companies with strategic know-how and a broad global network. To date, the company has invested in more than 100 companies founded across Europe, Asia, and North America.
“We believe that home renovation is a long process and consumers want to play an active role in decision making. While on the other side service providers have found it hard to showcase their work to prospective homeowners. Kolo solves this problem with its content to commerce model. The market needs coupled with the founders’ vision and execution made it a no-brainer for us to invest in Kolo”, says Madhur Makkar of RTP Global.
“Kolo has taken a customer-first approach to India’s massive home construction market & has demonstrated tremendous traction in a short period. We invested at the idea stage & have been impressed with the quality of execution of the Kolo team and have doubled down with a large check in this well-deserved round”, said Vaibhav Domkundwar of Better Capital, an early backer of breakout companies like Slice, Open, Rupeek, Teachmint, Khatabook & others.
