Housing.com Founder Rahul Yadav’s Broker Network Raises INR 90 Cr From Info Edge

Broker Network, the proptech startup of Housing.com founder Rahul Yadav, is raising nearly INR 90 Cr in funding from its sole and existing investor Info Edge. The startup will use the funding to fuel its expansion and growth plans.

The deal will be executed via Info Edge’s wholly-owned subsidiary Allcheckdeals India, which will own a 59.8% stake in the Mumbai-based proptech platform.

The board of 4B Networks, the parent company of Broker Network, passed a special resolution to issue 1,913 compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) to Allcheckdeals India at an issue price of INR 4,70,465.24 per share, taking the total funding close to INR 90 Cr, according to 4B Networks’s regulatory filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

Broker Network, founded in 2020 by Yadav, connects brokers with real estate developers and buyers. It also allows users to list their properties on the platform and offers home loan-related services to its clients via third-party lenders such as banks and non-banking financial corporations (NBFCs).

Info Edge invested INR 18 Cr in 4B Networks in December last year. The internet company followed it up with another investment of INR 9 Cr in February. Later in March, the Noida-based company invested another INR 137.12 Cr to acquire a majority stake in the startup. 

In total, Info Edge has reportedly invested INR 227 Cr in Broker Network this year alone, including the latest funding. 

The Mumbai-based startup claims to host more than 1 Lakh brokers and has more than 1,000 real estate projects live on its platform. Besides, the startup also claims to have disbursed home loans worth INR 4,000 Cr since its inception.

Broker Network is the second proptech startup of Yadav, who previously cofounded Housing.com, along with 10 others, from hostel rooms in IIT-Bombay in 2012. While the startup took off, Yadav’s tenure as its CEO had an unsavoury end. 

After writing a scathing email against investors, he tendered his resignation in 2015. He later joined back the company and was eventually fired after reports emerged of the startup spending INR 120 Cr on marketing campaigns even as the company bled money.

The announcement comes amidst a renewed interest in the proptech sector in the past few months. According to a report, the Indian proptech space is expected to attract investments of more than $1 Bn by 2025. 

In late August, accelerator Gruhas ASPIRE announced its first cohort of seven startups to cash in on the growing popularity of the emerging space. Bengaluru-based proptech startup Landeed also raised INR 19.5 Cr in a pre-seed funding round led by a clutch of angel investors last month.

In July, proptech startup PropReturns raised an undisclosed amount of investment from CRED’s Kunal Shah in a strategic funding round. In the same month, Homexchange raised $4 Mn in a funding round.

The development was first reported by Entrackr.