Turkish furniture marketplace Vivense raises $130 million, will expand to UK

Vivense, a Turkish online marketplace for furniture, has secured a $130 million investment from Turkish private equity fund Actera Group, Webrazzi reports. The funding will fuel the company’s continued growth in Turkey and ignite its global expansion plans, starting from the UK this year. 

Based in Istanbul, the company complements its online sales channels with 53 brick-and-mortar ‘experience centers’. Vivense says it has reached one million households with a product selection from over 500 manufacturers. Logistics operations involve branded last-mile delivery services and fulfillment centers of 50,000 square-meters, managed by an in-house supply chain software. 

Within Turkey, the e-commerce company will expand its logistics and fulfillment infrastructure and offer the country’s furniture manufacturers a global sales channel through the Vivense brand. New experience centers, special collections of furniture products, and e-commerce platform development are also in the pipeline. As for going international, the company plans to kickstart UK operations with a London showroom in September, then launch its e-commerce platform at the beginning of 2021.

The deal includes a share sale by earlier investors, including Earlybird VC and FJ Labs. Earlybird Digital East Fund has backed Vivense in various funding rounds and owned over 40 percent of shares prior to the transaction.