Proptech Startup Strata Raises $1.5 Mn From SAIF Partners, Mayfield India

Real estate investment platform Strata has raised $1.5 Mn funding in seed round led by SAIF Partners and Mayfield India. Real estate data analytics platform PropStack and three angel investors have also participated in the round.

The Bengaluru-based proptech startup plans to use this funding to double its workforce to over 45 employees by hiring for tech and investor relations roles. Besides this, the company is also planning to expand to metros beyond Bengaluru and Mumbai, and also strengthen its tech capabilities.

Incorporated in May 2019, Strata was founded by Sudarshan Lodha and Priyanka Rathore. It is a tech-enabled platform that simplifies real estate investments, by allowing investors to invest in properties and plots without spending large sums of money. So far, the company has 1500 users and 150 active investors on its platform.

Subeer Monga, principal at Mayfield India, on the fundraise, commented, “The alternate real estate asset class has been the playground for institutional investors largely. With Strata, individual investors can now access real estate investing without needing to invest large sums of money.”

Strata believes the lack of relevant experience, unavailability of right data sets and insufficient capital has made investment in real estate much more difficult. Therefore, the tech-enabled platform has been helping the investors by catering to their needs of “expertise” and “liquidity”. The company aims to bring INR 250 Cr assets under management (AUM) by the end of the year.

Founder Lodha said, “As a brand, we are focused on bringing in transparency and a data-driven approach to investments in real estate. Aiming to touch 250 Crores of AUM in this calendar year, we are creating India’s largest tech-enabled real-estate investment platform with our fractional investment model.”

As per a report published in December 2018, India has the largest number of proptech startups in the Asia-Pacific region. The report noted that India is home to over 77 funded proptech startups, out of a total of 179 in the Asia-Pacific region.

Another IBEF report suggested that the real estate sector in India is expected to reach a market size of $1 Tn by 2030 from $120 Bn in 2017 and contribute 13% of the country’s GDP by 2025. Other startups in the Proptech sectors include NoBroker, Nestaway, Zolo, YourOwnROOM and Stanza, among others