SUMMARY
Elara had raised $70 Mn in January 2020
The company had said that it will be utilising the funds to accelerate growth for its real estate plays
The fresh funds are expected to help the companies expand co-living and paying guest business
Singapore-based proptech company Elara Technologies has invested a total of INR 20 Cr in Housing and PropTiger, its two Indian subsidiaries.
According to the ministry of corporate filings (MCA) accessed by Inc42, Housing has issued 2,15,440 shares at a face value of INR 30 with a premium of INR 670 per share worth INR 15.08 Cr. Similarly, PropTiger has issued 5958 shares at a face value of INR 10 with a premium of INR 8427 per share worth INR 5.02 Cr.
The infusion in Indian entities of Elara has come after it had raised $70 Mn, in January 2020, from its existing investors NewsCorp and REA Group. Elara Technologies had said that it will be utilising the funds to accelerate growth, develop new products and technology and expand its sales team.
Founded in 2011, Elara is the parent company of proptech platforms Housing,com, PropTiger, and Makaan. While PropTiger was developed by Elara, the company had acquired Makaan and Housing in May 2015 and January 2017 respectively. Housing has recently added co-living spaces and paying guest properties to its service portfolio. The company has partnered with organised players such as OYO Life and Zolo to onboard properties in 12 Indian cities. The recent infusion is also expected to help the startup to expand the co-living and paying guest business.
Besides Housing and PropTiger, Elara Technologies also operates other proptech platforms such as Makaan and BroEx. While PropTiger was developed by Elara, the company had acquired Makaan in May 2015. Elara’s PropTiger had acquired Delhi-based premium office space aggregator/platform CBIX in a deal worth approximately $4.7 Mn in August 2018.
Moreover, Elara had acquired Gurugam-based tech-enabled rental brokerage platform FastFox in April 2019. FastFox is the same startup which operates broker connecting platform BroEx. After the acquisition, Elara had merged FastFox with Housing while BroEx is still running as a separate platform. With the acquisition of FastFox, the company had planned to go beyond search and discovery for home rentals on its platforms and add on-ground assistance to both landlords and home seekers.
According to IBEF, the Indian real estate market is pegged to touch $180 Bn by 2020, with the housing sector alone contributing 11% to the country’s GDP. It also estimates that 35% of the population is in the young age bracket (15-35 years) which is further driving the online real estate industry in India.
In India’s proptech space, Elara’s subsidiary companies compete with startups such as Square Yards, Times Group-backed MagicBricks, 99acres, among others. Recently, Square Yards acquired property management and rental platform Azuro.
