Ratan Tata Invests in Online Furniture Retailer Urban Ladder

Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata has invested in online furniture company Urban Ladder, making it his second personal investment in an e-commerce firm after Snapdeal.

Urban Ladder said that Tata's "inputs and guidance will be very valuable" for the company, but did not disclose the amount and other details about this investment.

This is Tata's second investment in an Indian e-commerce business, after an investment made in online marketplace major Snapdeal in August this year.

The latest investment comes four months after Urban Ladder raised 'Series B funding' from Steadview Capital and existing investors SAIF Partners and Kalaari Capital.

"Tata understands the furniture space very well, specially our focus on product design since he has a lot of knowledge of the subject. His inputs and guidance will be very valuable for us," Urban Ladder CEO and co-founder Ashish Goel said.

Launched in July 2012, Urban Ladder was co-founded by Ashish Goel and Rajiv Srivatsa. It offers over 1,000 products across 25 categories in furniture such as wardrobes, beds, sofas, dining tables and coffee tables.

Tata had earlier said that e-commerce is one of the areas where is he looking to personally invest because of its "good potential" as a large proportion of the country's consuming public does not have the required access to goods.

Ratan Tata, a design enthusiast, holds a degree in Architecture from Cornell University.