MUMBAI: Social commerce platform BedBathmore.com will be investing close to $20 million as part of its expansion plans over the next 18 months. The company is already in talks with investors from the retail trade sector as well as VCs to raise an initial round of about $7-10 million over the next couple of months.

BedBathMore.com, currently funded internally and via Blume Ventures, is likely to close the first round of investment over the next 90 days.

The company, which recently re-aligned its business from a pure-play commerce model to a content-community-commerce model, will invest the funds to build its product offering as well as technology. The company will also be doubling its team size, increasing from the current 100-member team to over 250 by the end of the current fiscal.

Over the next 18 months, the company will focus on extending the current value-propositions it offers to its users. Key amongst these will be increasing the community of architects and designers on its platform from the current 3500 to 10,000 by December this year. BedbathMore will also begin development of several industry first features to its platform that will appeal to users looking to style their homes. 

BedBathMore founder and CEO Amit Dalmia said, “BedBathMore.com will be a platform to combine content, community and commerce, in a simple yet intelligent manner. We don’t want to be viewed just as a commerce company but as a discovery based company. BedBathMore.com will be a disruptive and an integral part of bridging the gaps, currently not being looked at in the market. As a part of this journey, we are looking for partners who can associate with us to realize this vision.”

Over the past few months, BedBathMore has made key acquisitions of Homado.com, an online community of architects and CrudeArea, an art based start-up focused on the discovery of graphic art.