SoftBank leads $90m round for India's Housing.com
SoftBank Group is leading a $90 million round of funding for Locon Solutions, operator of property listing platform Housing.com. It will become the largest investor in the business.
Falcon Edge also participated in the round alongside other undisclosed investors. It takes the total funds raised by Housing.com over the last two years to more than $121 million.
Set up in 2012 by a group of students from the Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay, the platform uses a map interface to list properties in 45 cities, providing additional information such as photographs and details of nearby local amenities to assist users in their search. It has over 350,000 verified listings.
The company, which now has more than 1,500 employees, will use the new capital map over 40 million homes across 300 cities in India. Planned innovations include on-off buttons that can convert any property in the database into a listed asset on Housing.com once it comes on to the market.
This is the latest in a string of significant investments by newly-formed SoftBank unit SoftBank Internet and Media (SIMI). In India alone, the last six weeks have seen a $627 million commitment to e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal and the lead in a $210 million round of funding for taxi-booking app Ola.
"We are big believers in India's digital future and its potential to improve peoples' lives. The Housing.com team has a great vision and deep insight into what it takes to build great products, and transform the way people research and transact in real estate. We look forward to working with and supporting Housing.com's growth," Nikesh Arora, CEO of SIMI, said in a statement.
Housing.com received two rounds of angel funding in 2013 before Nexus Venture Partners came in with a $2.5 million Series A round. Earlier this year, Helion Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures and Nexus are said to have put in a further $19 million.
Other Indian online real estate portals that have received VC backing include PropTiger and Commonfloor.
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