Vietnam’s Propzy raises $25m Series A round

Other investors in the round include Next Billion Ventures, RHL Ventures, Breeze Ventures, FEBE Ventures, RSquare, and Insignia Ventures, according to a statement. Earlier in the year, Malaysia-based Frontier Digital Ventures, which led the seed round for the start-up, said in a filing it had sold its 20% stake.

It follows a $6 million round last year provided by Insignia, Next Billion, Frontier Digital, Stonebridge Capital, GS Shop, and TNB Aura. Previous backers also include Dt&Investment, according to AVCJ Research. In total, the start-up has raised $34 million in venture capital funding.

Founded in 2016 by serial entrepreneur John Le, Propzy runs an online marketplace for property listings backed by a network of sales centers, primarily in Ho Chi Minh City. There are plans to expand its operations in Hanoi in the coming months. The company also facilitates access to real estate financing solutions and offers enterprise software for property managers and tenants. It will use the fresh capital in part to offer mortgage loans.   

"Sellers see uncovering buyers needs as a headache that slows the buying process. Therefore, we invited a group of world-class investors to provide an advanced solution. With the largest number of estate agents in Vietnam - around 400 sales staff operating in 30 locations - we have facilitated over $1 billion in property transactions since inception and anticipate another record-setting year of growth, as we continue to expand," said Le, who is also CEO.

According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Construction, property sales in the first quarter of the year saw a 60% year-on-year decline. However, Vietnam’s venture capital ecosystem is expected to benefit from several headwinds that include rising incomes, supply chain relocations, increasing urbanization, favourable demographics and a rapidly digitizing consumer base, buoyed by a strong public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Much depends, however, on the strength of the recovery of Vietnamese exports. 

Real estate portals that received VC investment in earlier years include Muaban and Batdongsan, the latter of which runs the oldest classifieds-style portal for real estate listings in Vietnam. PE-backed real estate projects in the country include Dai Phuoc Lotus, which manages a township in Ho Chi Minh City, and CenLand, a broker that counts VinaCapital as an investor.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Early-stage
• Technology
• Real estate
• Vietnam
• Gaw Capital Partners
• SoftBank Ventures Asia