The people
What they build
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Working at Furnishr
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On the TechWaterloo stage
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About
Furnishr sells the outcome rather than the furniture. A customer chooses a room style, and the company handles curation, sourcing, purchase, delivery and one-day setup — the pieces arrive assembled and placed, with an option to add linens and kitchen essentials as a move-in kit. It is aimed at the people for whom furniture shopping is a project they do not want: new arrivals to a city, landlords staging rental units, and property managers furnishing buildings, which is where its named partnerships with residential developments sit. Michael Van and Karen Lau founded it in Toronto in January 2016; Lau, a University of Toronto computer science graduate specialising in artificial intelligence, has been its technical and design lead, and the company went through the DMZ at Toronto Metropolitan University. On the TechWaterloo stage in December 2017 Lau did not talk about furniture at all — her subject was whether an early-stage company should hire locally or tap a global workforce, and how to reason through the tradeoff rather than which answer she had picked.
Backers
No priced venture round is on the public record; the company has been listed in XRC Ventures' portfolio and went through the DMZ at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Quick answers
What does Furnishr do?
It furnishes an entire home or apartment as one purchase. The customer picks a design package; Furnishr sources and buys the furniture, decor, art and lighting, delivers it and sets it all up in a single day, with optional linens and kitchen basics.
Who founded Furnishr?
Michael Van and Karen Lau, in January 2016, in Toronto. Lau is a University of Toronto computer science graduate who specialised in artificial intelligence and has led design and technology at the company.
Where does Furnishr operate?
Toronto, with reported operations in New York City. Its site names partnerships with residential developments, which is the property-management side of the business rather than the direct-to-consumer one.
What was Karen Lau's TechWaterloo talk about?
Hiring: whether an early company should build its team locally or use a global workforce. She walked through the factors worth weighing rather than prescribing an answer, on the TechWaterloo stage in December 2017.