Dive Brief:
- DTC furniture rental startups Fernish and Feather have been acquired by Vesta for an undisclosed amount, according to a company press release.
- Vesta, a luxury interior design and staging firm, said the acquisitions represent “a significant milestone” for the company by allowing it to expand its reach to the mass market.
- The three companies will operate as separate brands under the banner “Showroom” and will serve customers in New York, Southern California, South Florida, the Bay Area and Seattle, as well as online nationally.
Dive Insight:
Through the acquisitions of Fernish and Feather, Vesta aims to “dominate the rental market.”
Vesta, which was founded in 2017 by Julian Buckner and Brett Baer, said it designs over 3,000 homes per year. The company has been showcased on Netflix’s “Selling Sunset” and Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing” through its staging business. Vesta launched an interior design studio in 2020 and an e-commerce platform in 2021.
"Leveraging our shared software platform, logistics, and proprietary distribution, Fernish and Feather are the next spokes in our flywheel of services,” Buckner said in a statement. “Whether you're a recent graduate renting your first apartment in New York or an A-list celebrity designing a beach house in Malibu, Showroom's brands provide a full lifecycle solution.”
Fernish and Feather were also both founded in 2017. The companies have partnered with a number of real estate operators including Brookfield and the Related Companies. Fernish in 2019 announced a partnership with Alliance Residential in which consumers could see what the company’s products would look like in spaces they may actually live in. Fernish offers products from a number of brands, including Crate and Barrel, CB2 and EQ3. Feather similarly operates as a furniture subscription service. The company in 2019 announced it secured $12 million in a Series A funding round led by Spark Capital. Other participants in the raise included Kleiner Perkins, Bain Capital Ventures, Y Combinator and Fuel Capital.
Showroom’s 200 employees will be led by Buckner, who will serve as the banner’s CEO. The company said it is on track to reach nine-figure revenues within the first fiscal year of acting as a combined entity.
"We are fortunate to be a profitable and growing business in an industry rocked by several high-profile failures in recent months,” Buckner said. “We are looking forward to executing on our strategy, which includes continuing to acquire complementary businesses across the design, rental, staging, and related software verticals."
