Pune Inc: Kori Design House to enter B2C segment; estimates revenue of Rs 30-40 lakh by mid 2023

Among the initiatives is a website where customers can plug and play products for their balcony areas. Kori has standardised several products that can be developed offsite.

“There will be no on-site work. There will be minimal human intervention. Clients can order through our e-commerce portal and we will come and set it up for them in a day or two,” says Riya Angal Kolte, who founded Kori in 2018.

People have started preferring to use their homes in multifunctional ways since the pandemic when different rooms had to double up as office spaces, online classrooms, playgrounds and socialising areas, among others. The result has been a demand for greater efficiency in homes.

“The next step for the Kori team is how we can design home spaces in innovative ways. We have come up with the concept where, for instance, compact balconies as small as 75-100 sqft can also be used as outdoor spaces,” says Kolte.

The studio has received more than 20 enquiries for farmhouses and bungalows, and more than 50 for compact terraces and balconies. The bigger spaces normally have budgets of Rs 10 to 20 lakh each while individual budgets for balconies are around Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000.

Kori has completed five bungalow and farmhouse projects in the last quarter. The company, which earned Rs 2 crore in 2022, is looking at e-commerce to double the revenue, with the B2C segment earning Rs 30 to 40 lakh by mid 2023.

In earlier projects, such as Urban Park, a 3.5-acre property in Hinjewadi, Kori’s signature has been to incorporate technology with the expertise of ecologists, among others. The ecologists studied the existing flora and fauna. “We asked, ‘If 50 bird species are coming in before we got into the project, how could we ensure that at least 75 bird species come in by the time we hand the project to the builder. We believe that sustainability ecological awareness is very important,” says Riya.

She adds that Kori brings the same approach to B2C as well. On one balcony, for instance, the designers replaced a homeowner’s plan to place flower pots in a row near the railing — as is the practice in flats — with a vertical garden and used the freed-up space to instal a bar counter.

“Whenever B2C customers approach us, it is usually after they have tried and tested themselves. They have potted plants that they have planted but most are either dead or not growing the way they should. Plants are living species. We have a dimension in our design that is complementary with the place and time,” says Riya.