The rumors of SoftBank Internet and Media Inc. investing in online real estate platform Housing.com come to an end today, as the earlier has formally announced through release that it has invested $90 Mn in the company. It is speculated that SoftBank has acquired 30-35% stakes in Housing.com with this round of funding.
Earlier, there were reports that Softbank has invested $70 Mn in Housing.com for 30% stake.
The Falcon Edge and other investors also invested in real estate platform. With this round of funding, the SoftBank Group will become the largest investor in Housing.com. Housing.com has now raised more than $121 Mn in last two years.
Prior to this funding, the company had raised a INR 115 Cr funding round led by Helion Venture Partners, Quolcom Ventures, with its existing investor Nexus Venture Partners also participating in the round.
Housing plans to use the funds to map over 40 Mn houses across 300 cities in India and provide On-Off buttons to home owners and agents. These On-Off buttons will convert all the curated houses database into assets for Housing.com, and can be reactivated when they’re again available in the market.
On this development Advitiya Sharma, Co-Founder of Housing.com said that “Ever since we started the company we had a huge vision, to help millions of people struggling to find Real Estate that meets their requirements perfectly. We’ve put in all our focus into building great products and mapping every single house in the country, on the platform.
Nikesh Arora, Vice Chairman of SoftBank and CEO of SIMI said, “Through this partnership with Housing.com, we aim to further invest in the digital infrastructure of India and build synergies with its network of Internet companies in India and around the world.
Housing.com was founded in 2012, has revolutionized the online real estate industry in India by leveraging its industry leading technology and product focus to provide consumers with a premium experience during their property search.
According to the data available, in past 9 months, over $300 Mn of investment has come into the real estate space, with over half of being raised in the last 3 months. Recently, Commonfloor raised INR 64 Cr(roughly $10 Mn) and a $30 Mn Series E led by its existing investor Tiger Global.
With over $120 Bn in revenues, the real estate market is Huge. The huge market opportunity which this sector offers has made the real estate space in India crowded with the existence of a number of players, thus the competition among the players is pretty much evident.
99acres, MagicBricks, Commonfloor, Indiaproperty, Makaan are the few players who are dominating the the real estate sector in the country. In terms of engagement metrics, MagicBricks is leading on all front including total page views, visits per visitor and unique visitors.
