Furniture startups are quickly gaining traction

Startups offering furniture have been on a roll. Everyone knows about e-commerce giants like Amazon raking in massive profits. Additionally, technology startups offering a range of services from ERP, payments processing to data analysis have been backed by venture capitalists pumping big bucks in the nascent stages. But what most people might be unaware of is the growing market for e-commerce startups selling furniture.

The last seven years have seen over $1 billion being poured into furniture startups in the United States. Wayfair, a website that sells furniture raised a whopping $165 million in a series A funding round in 2011 from four venture capitalists, namely, Battery Ventures, Great Hill Partners, HarbourVest Partners, and Spark Capital. This makes up a significant portion of the staggering $432 million raised by online furniture sellers in 2011 alone. While the funding has not reached the levels it did back in 2011, it has been growing steadily.

According to experts, one of the biggest reasons for the success of furniture selling sites is the convenience. People in big cities can browse through an impressive catalog of a plethora of furniture and get it delivered to their doorstep without ever getting out of bed.

Moreover, these startups mainly cater to the tenants, rather than homeowners. In other words, customers that more likely to move are the main focus of the online furniture retailers. Burrow, a company that offers a modular couch claims to have lower shipping costs due to its section wise delivery of the couch, to help temporary residents. Another company, Feather, offers furniture on a subscription basis, eliminating the need for tenants to shell out cash to buy stuff, only to re-sell when moving aga