Vertex leads Series A for Singapore's Propseller

Existing investors Hustle Fund, Iterative, and Rapzo Capital re-upped, while Partech, ICCP SBI, Vulpes Ventures and Redbadge Pacific came in as new investors.

Additional commitment came from numerous prop-tech founders, including PropertyGuru’s Jani Rautiainen, OpenAgent’s Marta Higuera, Homeday’s Steffen Wicker, Flyhomes’ Tushar Garg.

Propseller raised USD 1.2m in seed funding in 2000 from Hustle Fund, Iterative, XA Network, and Rapzo, plus Lazada co-founder Stein Jakob and Dot Property founder Ben Neve.

Founded in 2018, the company employs in-house salaried agents supported by a centralised operating system. It claims its technology makes transactions transparent and efficient while lowering costs. Commissions can be as low as 1%, half the market rate in Singapore. 

Southeast Asia's real estate agency market is highly fragmented, with most agents closing just a couple of transactions each year. Propseller said its technology infrastructure allows agents to cover more deals and spend more time with clients, resulting in annual completed transactions of more than 50 per agent.

Revenue rose 1,000% year-on-year in 2021 and the company achieved profitability. The Series A proceeds will be used to scale the business, broaden the service offering, and expand into overseas markets. Headcount is expected to grow from 50 to 200.

“Propseller is positioned at the crossroads of two major shifts in consumer behaviour, triggered by COVID," said Adrien Jorge, the company's founder and CEO, in a statement.

"Firstly, the flight from offline to online for everything including high-value items such as real estate. Secondly, an unprecedented work-from-home movement making millions of consumers want to move to a larger home than the one they are currently in."

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• Topics
• Early-stage
• Technology
• Southeast Asia
• Singapore
• Vertex Ventures
• TMT