Over two million users strong, flash sales site for home décor, furnishings and accessories One Kings Lane, has raised $40 million in new funding from led by Tiger Global Management. Institutional Venture Partners and existing investors Kleiner Perkins and Greylock Partners participated in the round, according to a Wall Street Journal story, which reports that One Kings Lane was valued at $440 million post-investment. This round brings the startup’s total funding to over $65 million.
One Kings Lane, which was cofounded by Ali Pincus and Susan Feldman in 2009, offers deep, limited discounts on home décor, furnishings, accessories, wine, food and gifts. The site competes with Gilt Groupe, and fast growing design marketplace Fab.com.
One Kings Lane has proven that a niche commerce model can draw a large userbase and bring in meaningful revenue The startup grew revenue over 500 percent from 2009 to 2010. One Kings Lane CEO Doug Mack told the WSJ that revenue is on track to exceed $100 million, which is also over a two hundred percent increase from 2010, in which the startup did $30 million in revenue. And more than 75 percent of sales come from repeat customers.
The company has also been able to use entertainment and celebrity partnerships to boost traffic and sales. Over the summer, One Kings Lane featured a content deal with Bravo’s Million Dollar Decorators, and teamed up with actress Gwyneth Paltrow to promote her new cookbook.
Another angle One Kings Lane has used to increase engagement is editorial content. For example, the site features companies videos with sales of luxury sheets that shows visitors how to fold a fitted sheet. The company also bought publishing design firm Helicopter earlier this year.
Of course, as we’ve seen with niche verticals in the flash sales business, these areas can be competitive. For example, Gilt started offering travel deals with Jetsetter and now almost every major flash site offers similar deals. Gilt has also been combining editorial with commerce in its foodie site Gilt Taste as well as in its Home And Furniture vertical. Fab.com is using curated design sales to help attract users.
But as exemplified by the site’s return user data and growing sales, One Kings Lane has a loyal following. If I were Gilt Groupe, I’d be looking to acquire the home decor site soon.