Japan’s SoftBank has made its third investment in India in less than a month by leading a funding round of $100 million (approx. INR 600 crore) in realty portal Housing.com
Housing.com, a 2 years old real estate portal founded by a team of 12 engineers from IITBombay, has been valued at about $250 million (Rs 1,500 crore) and Soft-Bank acquired a 30 per cent stake for its investment of $70 million.
Along with SoftBank other investors for this round includes hedge fund Falcon Edge, DST Global and the existing investors including Helion Venture Partners, Nexus Venture Partners and Qualcomm Ventures. “The funds will be used to expand operations, build new technology, increase hiring and marketing spend,” said one source.
In June, the company raised INR 115 crore led by Helion Venture Partners and Qualcomm Ventures with Nexus Venture also participating in the round. CommonFloor received $40 million from Tiger Global in September to fund its expansion into 22 cities in India.
For SoftBank, which invested $627 million in Snapdeal last month and $210 million in Ola, the latest deal makes it the single-largest investor in Indian startups. The Japanese conglomerate has said it aims to invest $10 billion in India.
Housing.com aims to disrupt online real estate market in India. Through the platform users can search for apartments and commercial complexes for rent or for sale. The company has also launched a rent agreement product that helps people create and customize a property agreement online.
