InMyRoom.ru, a Moscow-based startup that promotes home decor items, has just raised half a million dollars. The startup was launched one year ago and allows Internet users to buy interior furnishing and accessories based on attractive photos. The startup’s valuation has not been disclosed, but “both parties are happy with it,” the startup’s founder Ivan Khmelevskoy told East-West Digital News.
The funds were brought in by a private investment fund with international business expertise in the field of home decor. The mysterious investor has prefered “not to be named before the next round of financing, which we’re planning for next year,” Khmelevskoy explained.
Designed with a rare aesthetic sense and strong editorial content, InMyRoom.ru attracts more than 500,000 unique users per month. Among its 20,000 registered users are “more than a thousand professional designers and architects as well as 600 companies,” the company claims.
The startup intends to soon launch full-fleged e-commerce functions: “It will work as a kind of Google AdWords for photos. We are working on an intellectual algorithm of products-to-photo attachments and tagging. The products will be provided by our partners and sold via our marketplace,” Khmelevskoy said.
The business model has proven efficient in Western countries, and the site’s operations are “profitable,” according to the startup.
Ivan and Adelya Khmelevskoy, who have been in the Internet business for more than 10 years, are the co-owners of Internet and e-marketing agencies RealWeb and MediaStars
