The Amazing Rise of Home Design Website Houzz, Now Valued At $2 Billion

Just five years ago, Israeli designer couple Adi Tatarko and Alon Cohen got stuck in the process of trying to renovate their home. Fast forward five years, and Tatarko and Cohen are the founders of Houzz, the web’s leading home design app that recently raised $165 million at a $2 billion valuation; and Tatarko was named by “Forbes” in a list of ‘Tech Titans,’ along with the likes of Elon Musk and Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang.

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A ‘Pinterest-style’ website dedicated to home design, Houzz allows its 25 million unique visitors each month to browse through 4 million interior design photos, home decor, decorating ideas and get advice from home professionals online. According to Alexa rankings, Houzz is the 185th most popular website in the United States.

Houzz founders Adi Tatarko and Alon Cohen

Bringing the Houzz down

Seeing potential in Houzz’s platform, the successful American venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, which funds Yahoo!, LinkedIn, Dropbox and Tesla Motors, began bankrolling Houzz early on. Though Tatarko is new to the tech business, “Forbes” recently added her to a list of‘ Tech Titans’ funded by Sequoia.

According to one Forbes article, “the company is more than an eye-catching site for homeowners trying to get their remodeling plans sorted out. Houzz also is a game-changer for architects, designers and craftspeople making all varieties of household items.”

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And as the Houzz community grows, so does the company. The only website that offers users access to a rich database of home design images, products and advice, Houzz already has offices in London, Berlin and Sydney and it hopes to open more using the $165 million investment. Making the home design process still simpler, Houzz now offers a marketplace feature whereby users can click on a certain item they like in an image and instantly purchase it for their home. According to Tatarko, Houzz will not directly deal with the e-commerce side of the sales, but will cut a 15 percent commission from the vendor side of each sale and ensure that only the best vendors are offered on the site.

With the announcement of the new funding round, led by Sequoia, together with new investors Yuri Milner’s DST Global and T. Rowe Price, among others, Houzz also unveiled a new website design, making it easier to search and add filters that will help visitors narrow down their favorite images.

For home design candidates and technology investment buffs, Houzz’s fast-growing and industry transforming website is something to write home about.

Photos: Screenshot/ Courtesy