Exclusive: Proptech Startup HouseEazy In Talks To Raise INR 100 Cr Funding

Proptech startup HouseEazy is in advanced discussions to raise INR 100 Cr (about $11.7 Mn) funding from a large VC fund and existing investor Chiratae Ventures, sources told Inc42.

HouseEazy, which operates a marketplace for reselling houses, raised $7 Mn (about INR 58 Cr) in its Series A funding round, led by Chiratate Ventures, in August last year. The round was a mix of equity and debt.

“The latest funding could be an extension of the Series A round,” one of the sources said. 

The sources added that the round will be led by a tier-I VC firm which recently announced the launch of a India-dedicated fund and is doubling down on growth and late stage companies in the country. 

HouseEazy and Chiratae Ventures declined to comment on Inc42’s queries on the funding round. 

Founded in 2021 by Tarun Sainani and Deepak Bhatia, HouseEazy aims to address the gaps in the real estate industry by connecting buyers and sellers. It claims to remove layers of multiple stakeholders, like brokers, and facilitate real-time closure of transactions by informing buyers and sellers of the price points generated by the platform’s machine learning algorithms.

The startup raised $1 Mn in its seed funding round, led by Antler, in December 2023. 

On the financial front, HouseEazy turned profitable in FY24. It posted a net profit of INR 38 Lakh as against a loss of INR 44 Lakh in FY23, while revenue surged 3X to INR 10.7 Cr from INR 2.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

India’s Proptech Market Boom 

The development comes at a time when the country’s proptech market is growing at a rapid pace. A recent report by Aurum PropTech, highlighting the tectonic shift in the country’s real estate market, said digital platforms are becoming the primary conduit for real estate transactions.

An astounding 75% of homebuyers now rely on digital platforms, while 50% engage in virtual property tours for such transactions, it said. 

As a result, the investments in proptech market in India is expected to clock a CAGR of 15% between 2023 to 2030, reaching a size of $16 Bn by the end of this period from $6 Bn in 2023, according to a study by HDFC Capital, Brigade REAP, and Knight Frank.

In line with this, a number of VC firms have been investing in proptech startups over the past few years. 

Last month, Lighthouse PropTech bagged $1 Mn (around INR 8.6 Cr) as part of its $2.5 Mn (around INR 21.5 Cr) funding round led by Turbostart, along with participation from the Dabur family office and other high-net-worth individual (HNI) investors.

In January, Mumbai-based fractional ownership startup hBits secured INR 40 Cr in its Series A funding round from Capricon Realty, a subsidiary of the Thackersey Group.

In September last year, urban renting-focused proptech startup Flent raised INR 6.5 Cr in a pre-seed funding round led by WEH Ventures. Meanwhile, JUSTO Realfintech bagged $7 Mn in a mix of equity and debt funding in the same month.