The furniture and home goods marketplace MadeiraMadeira kicked off 2022 with an aggressive expansion plan: the unicorn startup launched its first furniture development technology center and announced the opening of 112 brick-and-mortar stores all over Brazil. For the two initiatives, focused on the expansion of MadeiraMadeira’s own brand, CabeCasa, the startup will invest BRL 100 million.
MadeiraMadeira aims its tech center to be an innovation and technology laboratory for the development of more sustainable furniture. According to the company, a piece of furniture can take up to six months to be created, from the briefing to the sale. Through the tech center, the proposal is to reduce this time to one month, in addition to launching 200 new products monthly during 2022.
The space located in Curitiba city and launched in partnership with the Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná (Fiep) and the National Service for Industrial Learning (SENAI) has 5,000 square meters and has a co-creation studio, test laboratory, prototyping area, photography and video studio and showroom.
According to MadeiraMadeira, the tech center is the first in Brazil that brings together industry, retail and final consumer. “There is a huge gap between the final consumer and the furniture industry, as well as the retail industry. We are bringing all the stakeholders together in the same place and putting the customer at the center of the process, from the development of the furniture to its testing and feedback,” said Santiago Antoranz Pons, product development VP at the startup.
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About 50 people, including designers, engineers and researchers, are expected to work at the center focusing on technology and furniture development.
The new tech center and the investment in physical stores to boost the startup‘s CabeCasa brand marks a turning point in MadeiraMadeira’s business, expanding the company’s presence beyond exclusively online sales via website and app.
“With the expansion of our brand through the arrival in 12 Brazilian states and a highly strategic tech center, we will be able to bring to the market a high-quality standard of furniture that does not yet exist in Brazil,” said Daniel Scandian, CEO, and co-founder at MadeiraMadeira.
MadeiraMadeira’s 112 new brick-and-mortar stores will be located in the states of São Paulo (58), Minas Gerais (10), Rio Grande do Sul (11), Paraná (8), Góias (5), Santa Catarina (5), Espiríto Santo (4), Pernambuco (2), Rio de Janeiro (2), Bahia (1), Rio Grande do Norte (1), and the Federal District (5).
In January 2021, MadeiraMadeira became a unicorn after receiving a $190 million investment round led by SoftBank and Dynamo.
