A Dallas startup that furnishes your apartment hauls in $12 million to expand across Texas

Nickson, a Dallas-based home furnishing startup, will use $ 12 million from its first round of funding to expand into other fast-growing cities in Texas.

Nickson offers a subscription-based service to furnish apartments completely – down to the small things like laundry baskets, cutlery and crockery. After paying a one-time installation fee, users are billed for a monthly subscription for the duration of a rental agreement. Services range from $ 199 per month for a studio to $ 599 per month for a three-bedroom apartment.

“We didn’t want to become a furniture rental company. Traditional furniture rental is object-oriented. … We are life oriented, ”said Cameron Johnson, Founder and CEO of Nickson. “How do we enable you to live in your space as quickly as possible? We do not rent single items. We solve the whole problem. “

The Harvard Business School graduate has attracted some major investors to the company, including Motley Fool Ventures and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest, as well as Backstage Capital, which was founded by local investor Arlan Hamilton and Pendulum Holdings, a firm that creates startups led by. Funds People of Color and is led by former financial advisor to President Barack Obama, Robbie Robinson.

Johnson said the idea grew from his experience at international real estate developer Greystar Real Estate Partners, where he spent two years in mergers and acquisitions.

Customers often asked about furnished models, but the answer was always “categorically and consistently ‘no’”.

A delivery truck pulls up to the loading docks of the Nickson Furnished offices.(Smiley N. Pool / Employee Photographer)

From this observation, the idea of ​​starting Nickson evolved into what it is today. He said that he and his team originally thought the market for their services would be mostly young professionals. But after taking off, he realized that it could benefit a variety of situations.

Johnson said the service attracts a “mixed crowd” of tenants, from an international student at Southern Methodist University to a recent graduate getting her first job in town.

He realized that it could also help people who don’t have to move, such as someone who just divorced or a family whose home was lost to emergencies like this year’s winter storm or the collapse of a crane on an apartment building in Dallas Suddenly uninhabitable in 2019, a large number of people will lose their homes and everything in them.

“We were surprised at the amount of use cases we saw,” said Johnson. “We thought at first, ‘Okay, this is a housing problem,’ and we realized that it was a real estate problem.”

Johnson is not alone in his efforts to innovate in the furniture market. Fernish, a Los Angeles-based company, recently expanded into Texas with its full service and la carte offering.

Michael Barlow, co-founder and CEO of Fernish, founded the company after “deep brainstorming” triggered by personal experience.

In 2015, when Barlow was working on moving his then-girlfriend from Chicago to Los Angeles, he found the decision of what and how to move was extremely inconvenient. The two put a lot of effort into deciding what to bring, what to set up, and how to ship everything.

“That’s when the wheels really started turning here,” said Barlow. “How can I make it (my girlfriend) easier to move and join me in LA, so that we don’t have to distance ourselves and give this relationship a chance?”

As Barlow became more involved in the industry, he saw almost no attention to the development of the market or the younger consumer.

Fernish’s mission is to be a service that not only offers rental and purchase options, but also removes the hassle and uncertainty of moving. Fernish offers free moving services if you move while you continue to rent from them.

“There’s no reason your home shouldn’t move forward and evolve with you,” said Barlow. “You shouldn’t have to settle for used or used furniture when you really have pieces that you love and deserve.”

Furnishing services not only reduce moving costs and offer customers convenience. said Johnson. They can also be a sustainable alternative by reducing the waste associated with the process.

“The whole moving process creates both waste and pollution, so to some extent we can help people move more efficiently,” said Johnson. “Hopefully we can help people get a little greener, which I think is a good thing.”

By delivering the furniture on-site, Johnson said, customers can avoid the hassle of packaging and shipping, and there’s no need to move trucks that cause emissions, or tape and cardboard boxes that are quickly disposed of after use.

The pandemic led to some big changes in the furniture market and how companies view their business.

Fernish originally planned to expand along the coasts, but Barlow said he started looking inland after the pandemic. The company was drawn to Dallas by the influx of people and businesses. Barlow’s personal love of the city and encouragement from a local investor, Jack Furst, were also important factors in the decision.

Johnson said investors are looking at his company because subscription-based services are hugely popular and the pandemic has brought to the fore many of the problems they solve, such as contactless moving and space optimization.

“The home became really relevant. … It was put in the first place for everyone. How do I make my room a home? Because now I’m stuck in my tiny box, ”said Johnson.

This round of funding will help the company expand into Houston and Austin via Texas. Johnson said this could become a stepping stone for future national expansion.

The company is looking for new customers in a market that is home to the largest retailer of rental furniture and appliances.

Headquartered in Plano, Rent-A-Center announced last month that its e-commerce business is accelerating, growing 50% in the first quarter and accounting for 25% of its $ 1.04 billion in revenue. Rent-A-Center has told investors that in a few years’ time it expects online sales to grow to 30% of its total business.

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