The William Currie Group, which invested in successful fashion e-tailer ASOS, has backed homewares and furniture website Occa-Home.

Occa-Home, a three-year-old website selling designer-branded furnishings, has attracted an undisclosed ‘rolling investment’ from retail-focused investor The William Currie Group.

The funding was matched by Occa-Home’s original seed funder, Bill Dobbie, who is chief executive of online dating business Cupid (ranked top of Business XL‘s list of fast-growing companies, Rising Stars) and an investor in various other web-based businesses.

As part of the deal, Bill Currie and Iain McDonald of William Currie Group will join Occa-Home’s board. The William Currie Group was an early-stage backer of online clothing retailer ASOS, which now has sales of more than £300 million.

Glasgow-based Occa-Home is run by Kate Mooney, who tells GrowthBusiness: ‘Homes and gardens is one of the fastest-growing online sectors, and one of the last to establish itself online.’

The company’s management team previously ran an architects’ practice, Occa Design, which Mooney says ‘evolved’ into the current business. Among its clients were several big hotel groups including Intercontinental Hotels. Mooney claims this depth of product experience was what distinguished Occa-Home from other online homewares retailers, and persuaded The William Currie Group to offer its backing.

Bill Currie remarks, ‘The team at Occa have built a fantastic website and excellent distribution network making them one of the leading independent retailers in this sector.’

Occa-Home’s website contains magazine-style content written by professional designers, as well as functionality that allows users to see how particular furnishings will look in combination.

Mooney adds that she expects Occa-Home to hit profitability this or next year. The turnover of the company is undisclosed but the company reports it has grown by 180 per cent over the past 12 months.