Couchelo, The Mobile Platform That Helps You Score That Furniture Piece You’ve Always Wanted

Have you ever wanted to find a specific piece of furniture or homeware that fits into the theme of your room, but can’t find it at your normal go-to stores or online? Well, in true mobile fashion, there’s an app for that, and its name is Couchelo. The Sydney-based startup is headed up by its three Co-Founders, William Fan, Fei Yao and Si-Si Dai who have identified a growing trend, one which involves unique pieces of furniture, such as vintage or upcycled gems, that are almost impossible to source unless you happened to stumble across a local flea market or bric-a-brac store.

Couchelo wants to be go-to furniture marketplace to bring together a community of creative artisans and craftsmen. “A lot of the really nice stuff you’d find is through walking around the boutique stores and flea markets in Rozelle, Redfern and Balmain, and there are just as many in Melbourne. These sellers don’t use existing online platforms like eBay or Gumtree because they’ve become too commercial, and there’s just no community aspect”, says Co-Founder William Fan. That’s where Couchelo steps in, by providing a mobile platform that allows individual sellers to advertise their unique and creative pieces locally and for buyers to have a simple, streamlined interface to browse and discover their dream find.

The Couchelo team (from left to right): Si-Si Dai, William Fan, and Fei Yao

The app takes your geolocation details and shows you the search items that are closest to you so that buyers are not only assured that you won’t have to journey too far to get theirs hands on what they want, but the sellers can be sure that it is convenient for people to connect and physically find out more. “Furniture, unlike fashion, is something that you need to see and feel in person before committing to the purchase,” says Fan.

Couchelo has been warmly received by many furniture and homeware suppliers who otherwise have no unified platform to connect with their prospective buyers. “Some sellers are already using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to sell their items, we’re just making it easier to bring this community of furniture enthusiasts together.”

Couchelo’s iOS is currently in a closed beta test which will hopefully result in the launch of the app in Sydney and Melbourne very early in 2014. The team has also planned an Android app in the works which will be released some time after the iOS launch.

If you’re interested in finding out more or receiving updates on Couchelo’s progress, you can sign up to their snazzy website at www.couchelo.com or you can follow their Facebook page and Twitter account.