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Online-first home and kitchen products brand 10Club has on-boarded Kavitha Rao as Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer to lead category and retail expansion. Rao was formerly the Managing Director for Retail at Accenture and also served as the Chief Commercial Officer at IKEA India. 

The appointment will be key to 10clubhomes entering new categories and for its omnichannel approach. The Fireside Ventures-backed startup announced a ‘strategic pivot’ in October 2023 to create a consolidated brand for the home and kitchen category from its direct-to-consumer roll-up model. It had raised $40 million in a seed round in 2021, followed by nearly $30 million in another round from US-based Olive Tree Capital and returning investors in 2022. 

Founded in 2020 by Bhavna Suresh, Joel Ayala of VC firm Class 5 Global, and Deepak Nair, 10clubhomes earlier acquired five D2C brands across lawn and gardening, sports and fitness equipment and baby products categories. Nair’s LinkedIn profile says he stepped away as Co-founder from 10clubhomes. 

With the pivot, the brand has expanded into new categories including kitchen accessories, decor and serveware. “We are looking at expanding to furnishing, organising, bathroom essentials and possibly lighting – to build a consumer brand in the home space,” Rao told YourStory. 

The brand claims to source nearly 95% of its current SKUs from Indian manufacturers. “Over the last five years, the range of materials we can source from Indian suppliers has expanded,” she noted. 

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Rao added that the brand was also looking at going live in some categories on quick commerce channels, apart from online marketplaces and selling through its own website. The company also entered the offline space in collaboration with mattress brand Wakefit with a store-in-store model in October 2023. 

“We are also planning on setting up standalone brand stores by Q1 of the coming financial year,” said Rao. 

With the new strategy, the brand plans to clock GMV sales of Rs 100 crore in FY24, with the aim of doubling it over the next year. The brand is also looking at hiring additional people to propel its expansion plans. Currently, the brand employs 35 people.