To help it continue to grow, the custom furniture retailer raised $15 million to roll out new technology tools, open new physical locations and hire staff.

Interior Define is growing quickly; the custom furniture retailer says it tripled its revenue for the third year in a row last year.

To help it continue to grow, the retailer on Thursday announced it has closed a $15 million Series B funding round. The retailer plans to use the round, which was led by Pritzker Group Venture Capital and Fifth Wall, to roll out new technology tools, open new physical locations and hire more employees across nearly area of the business.

“The funding will help I/D fortify [our] mission and continue our growth as we explore new models for retail with the bridging of tech and physical space,” says CEO and founder Rob Royer.

To bolster its e-commerce capabilities, which accounts for more than 80% of Interior Define’s sales, the retailer on Thursday rolled out an augmented reality mobile app that enables consumers to use their phones to visualize how a sofa or other piece of furniture would look and fit in their home. They also can use the tool to outfit the product with any of the more than 75 fabrics and leathers to see how it would coordinate with their existing decor and, within the app, they also can chat with one of the brand’s design specialists.

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The retailer also added the comfort guide to its website. The guide uses videos, photographs, 3-D models and descriptive content to help shoppers understand what it feels like to sit in each Interior Define product to help them customize their order to fit their needs.

The retailer is also investing in more physical locations. In 2015, Interior Define opened its first physical location, which it calls guideshops, in Chicago. Last year, it opened three additional locations in New York, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. The retailer plans to open two more locations this year, including a San Francisco location that’s set to open in June.

 

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The San Francisco guideshop will reflect the retailer’s vision for what its physical locations can offer. The location will be slightly larger than the retailer’s typical 2,000-square-foot space. “We’re utilizing the incremental space to build a co-branded experience to merchandise our products with like-minded, digitally-native home brands,” Roy says.

The guideshops build brand awareness and help shoppers feel comfortable buying a sofa online (every piece the retailer sells is made to order). Moreover, store employees do double duty by helping consumers in the store and talking to online shoppers on the phone.

Inside investors, including Peterson Ventures, Listen Ventures and Breakout Capital, also participated in the funding round. Breakout Capital led the retailer’s $8 million Series A round in May 2017.

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