Online store HipVan bags S$4.7m in funding, plans 'the next Ikea'

Singapore

HIPVAN, an online store for designer furniture and home decor inspiration, has snagged S$4.7 million in Series A funding to build the "next Ikea" online, and further develop its private label products from bedsheets and rugs to Milano coffee tables.

Launched in April 2013 after founder Danny Tan moved into a new apartment and found shopping for furniture an "incredibly frustrating experience", HipVan today offers over 20,000 home furnishing products through its web store and iOS app.

Mr Tan told BT on Wednesday: "We believe this is the perfect time to build the 'next Ikea' online with a much wider product selection, and a more efficient business model that lets us pass on savings to our customers. The biggest opportunities in e-commerce today target the emerging segment of Internet-savvy consumers in their late twenties onwards with high disposable inco…