One Kings Lane combats claims of ‘slowing growth’ with $112M in new funding

In the wake of the housing crisis, the resurgence of the home furnishings market is upon us.

One Kings Lane is positioning itself to ride that wave — it has raised a big ol’  $112 million round of funding to fuel its growth and capture a bigger share of the market.

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One Kings Lane sells home goods through an ever-changing array of limited-time sales. It launches new deals every day, which last for about 72 hours (although some are available for up to a week). The sales focus on design themes such as “Ralph Lauren home,” “black-and-white photography,” or “Scandinavian-inspired tableware.”

For luxury brands, One Kings Lane provides a dedicated channel for offloading excess inventory without sacrificing their image or slashing prices too much. It has enough upholstered chairs, cashmere throws, art deco mirrors, and beach-chic knickknacks to make your head spin.

Susan Feldman and Alison Pincus (wife of Zynga founder Marc Pincus) founded the online retailer about five years ago. The duo wanted to build an online place to browse and buy a “curated” selection of affordable home goods as well as find design inspiration and shop favorite lifestyle brands.

One Kings Lane then experienced phenomenal growth. Revenue grew 500 percent between 2009 and 2010 and tripled between 2010 and 2011. In 2012, it exceeded $200 million in annual revenue. The company had raised a total of $117 million over the years to fuel this growth. However, this velocity is difficult to maintain, and the initial consumer fervor over flash sales began to fade.

USA Today reported rumors earlier this month that One Kings Lane planned to raise $100 million and that it had seen its “rapid growth rate slow,” which worried some investors.

Today, the company has 10 million members, which is up significantly from the 6 million it reported just over a year ago, and it said its sales are increasing. One Kings Lane is also exploring new sectors. It recently launched a Vintage & Market Finds section of the site and is now selling jewelry as well.

One Kings Lane faces competition from a number of online and offline retailers with online stores. Seller of “a zillion things home” Wayfair is perhaps its most direct rival, and it faces competition from Fab.com and Gilt.

Fab.com recently decided to move away from the flash-sale model because it wasn’t sustainable. However, Zulily, which powers flash sales for parenting and kids products, went through a successful IPO last year. It seems this approach works better for some sectors than others.

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New investor Mousse Partners led this round of funding. Two new “global institutional investors” also joined, along with all existing investors, including Scripps Networks Interactive, Kleiner Perkins, Greylock Partners, IVP and Tiger Global Management, according to a company spokesperson.

One Kings Lane is based in San Francisco.