Ernesta, the custom sized rug startup founded by former Peloton leaders, has secured $20 million in Series B funding to accelerate its shift from online newcomer to scaled omni channel home brand. The round, led by Addition with participation from existing backers True Ventures and Platform Capital Management, brings total capital raised to roughly $57.5 million and extends the company’s runway for retail and technology expansion.
Building a Custom Rug Platform, Not Just a Catalog
At its core, Ernesta is trying to turn custom sized rugs into an everyday option rather than a high end exception. Instead of standard size SKUs, the brand offers made to order rugs cut to each room, with a curated set of constructions and color stories designed to be easy for both homeowners and trade professionals to specify. Lead times are positioned at around two weeks from order to delivery, which is critical if custom is going to compete with ready made inventory in a market where large e commerce players have set fast fulfilment expectations.
From Pure DTC to an Omni Channel Rug Retailer
The new funding is timed to a more ambitious brick and mortar build out. Ernesta plans to grow from a handful of spaces to about 30 showrooms across the United States by the end of 2027, with a focus on design forward hubs and higher income home markets. Recent sites in Michigan and planned locations in Texas and New York show how the brand is moving closer to where interior designers and renovation minded homeowners already shop and source. These showrooms function less like big box rug aisles and more like material labs: visitors can see full size samples, feel pile and backing constructions, and work with staff to translate inspiration images into precise custom orders.
“Rugs are one of the most important design elements in the home, yet the category has historically been fragmented, opaque, and difficult for customers to navigate,” said John Foley, Founder and CEO of Ernesta. “We are building Ernesta to change that, with designer-quality custom-sized rugs, curated design and an experience that feels modern and empowering. Our continued 100% year-on-year growth speaks to how much interior designers and ambitious homeowners are appreciating the Ernesta approach.”
Tech as the Second Growth Lever
Alongside real estate, Ernesta is committing a significant slice of the Series B to technology, particularly its Trade Portal and back end systems. For interior designers, the Trade Portal is positioned as a workflow tool where they can manage client projects, request and track samples, access trade pricing, and generate quotes for custom cuts without a long email chain. On the operational side, investment is earmarked for manufacturing software and fabrication process improvements, with the goal of tightening quality control while keeping lead times predictable as volumes rise. That tech layer is how Ernesta aims to differentiate itself from traditional rug importers that often rely on manual ordering, longer timelines, and limited sizing flexibility.
“Ernesta is building a truly differentiated brand in a massive category that has lacked a modern consumer leader,” said Lee Fixel of Addition. “The team has combined strong product curation, a compelling retail experience, and proprietary technology to simplify the custom rug market. We’re excited to continue supporting their growth.”
Founder Pedigree and Category Opportunity
The founding team, John Foley, Hisao Kushi and Yony Feng, brings a track record in building a high profile hardware and subscription brand at Peloton, and investors are clearly betting that this experience in operations, branding, and community building will translate to home goods. The broader rug and carpet market is estimated to approach around $120 billion globally by 2030, but much of that spend still flows through fragmented regional retailers, home centers and trade only showrooms. For Ernesta, the opening is to sit between mass and ultra luxury: a digitally enabled, design centric player with transparent pricing and sizing that can speak both to design professionals and to end consumers.
“With Ernesta, we saw an opportunity to build the strongest brand in a category where design matters deeply to Trade and consumers,” said Jon Callaghan, Co-founder and Managing Partner at True Ventures. “The company is creating a modern platform that brings together retail, technology, and supply chain innovation in a way that has not existed before.”
Looking Ahead
For startup and retail investors, the Series B round signals that there is still appetite for focused, vertical DTC plus retail plays in the home, especially when they solve a specific pain point like fit and lead time. It also reinforces a broader shift in home and décor toward service led, semi custom experiences rather than purely transactional product listings, with technology and physical showrooms working together rather than in separate lanes.
