Every Fall, Summer, and Winter “Billion Dollar Startup Ideas” hires interns to build ideas from the blog as MVPs, conduct industry research, and write their own blog posts. This blog post is an excerpt from that series.
Problem: Many people, regardless of their age or status, are embarking on their nerve-racking yet exciting transition to independent living. Independent living starts with change, that's moving into a college dorm room, leasing a first apartment, relocating for a big job opportunity, and more! However, there is always the underlying struggle of how to make that new space feel like home, bringing that cozy, comfortable feeling to wherever you may continue life. This interior struggle is always a daunting task, one that may be set aside in the heat of everything else.
Subscribe here to get access to the first 500 ideas from our blog. For just one coffee a month, you can have access to more than $500 billion dollars of ideas. What's not to love?
Solution: InteriorAI is a Generative AI application that is able to fully furnish your dream room depending on the room's size and shape, while taking into consideration your budget and desired themes! Interior AI will find pieces of furniture, posters, tables, and more, filtering through trusted websites in your area, including Home Depot, IKEA, Target, Walmart, and more. InteriorAI provides online delivery links to all of your recommended furnishings while displaying a prototype room in the application, so you have no trouble planning, purchasing, and setting up your dream Interior, all thanks to InteriorAI.
Market Size: With 40% and 64% of public and private US university students moving into college dorms annually, that is alone more than 2.3 million young adults. The market also includes the purchase of new housing in the US at an average of nearly 4 million new houses/apartments purchased/rented every year. Furthermore, through a national survey of 1500 homeowners conducted by Dynata, 49.5% of homeowners are either planning or have started on home projects to make cosmetic changes that reflect their personal style.
Known Competitors: Gensler, HOK, HBA, IA Interior Architects, Perkins&Will
Monetization: InteriorAI would monetize through taking a finding tax for each furnishing item purchased and used through InteriorAI. This charge would occur after the client is given the blueprint, but before the link to these items. Ex: a $1500 sofa, a $500 TV, and a $750 Table would be found and then placed in the app prototype without the link. After a user pays a 10% finders fee of $275, the links will be distributed
Another possible way of monetization is through partnering with certain sellers, like the already noted Home Depot, IKEA, Target, or Walmart, which could pay a fee to have their furnishing items filtered through first, or show up discounted, incentivising more sales from users.
Contributed by: InteriorAI Was Contributed By Danyal Koita
Citations:
Monthly New Residential Sales, June 2025