MUMBAI, India & SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Locon Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (known as Housing.com) and SoftBank Internet and Media, Inc. (“SIMI”) today announced a definitive agreement under which the SoftBank Group (further described below) will lead an investment of $90 million in Housing.com, along with Falcon Edge and other investors. With this round of funding, the SoftBank Group will become the largest investor in Housing.com. Housing.com has now raised more than $ 121 million in 2 years.
Housing.com plans to use the funds to map over 40 million houses across 300 cities in India and provide On-Off buttons to home owners and agents. These On-Off buttons will convert all the curated houses database into assets for Housing.com, and can be reactivated when they're again available in the market.
Advitiya Sharma, Co-Founder of Housing.com, said, “Ever since we started the company we had a huge vision, to help millions of people struggling to find Real Estate that meets their requirements perfectly. We’ve put in all our focus into building great products and mapping every single house in the country, on the platform. In our journey we have been fortunate to have found great partners in our investors, and the whole team is excited to work with SoftBank and achieve this vision together.”
Through this partnership with Housing.com, SoftBank aims to further invest in the digital infrastructure of India and build synergies with its network of Internet companies in India and around the world.
Nikesh Arora, Vice Chairman of SoftBank Corp. and CEO of SIMI, said, “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.”
Recently Housing.com launched “Slice View™”, the world’s first interactive home booking platform, in a campaign encompassing four projects across three cities. In just five days, the Slice View™ technology exclusively marketed more than half of the inventory and generated over 50 Cr of Gross Merchandise Value through the Slice View™ platform. Given the unprecedented success of the campaign, Housing.com has received numerous inbound requests from various developers for similar campaigns.
Morrison & Foerster LLP and AZB & Partners acted as legal advisor, and the Raine Group LLC acted as financial advisor to SoftBank. Krishnamurthy and Company acted as legal advisor, and Avendus Capital Pvt. Ltd. acted as financial advisor to Housing.com.
About Housing.com
Housing.com, founded in 2012, has revolutionized the online real estate industry in India by leveraging its industry leading technology and product focus to provide consumers with a premium experience during their property search. Housing.com is a disruptor of the online real estate industry through its verified listings guarantee, providing HD photos and 100+ data points on all properties mapped on the platform. Housing.com operates in over 45 cities, with over 350,000 verified listings and more than 15,000 New Projects, the highest in the market. Housing.com has now raised more than $ 121 million since founding.
Housing now has more than 1,500 employees in over 45 cities across India. For more information, visit Housing.com.
About the SoftBank Group
The SoftBank Group comprises SoftBank Corp. (TSE:9984) and its subsidiaries and associates that offer a comprehensive range of advanced mobile communications, fixed-line communications and Internet services around the world. With Sprint joining in July 2013, the SoftBank Group became a leading global carrier that now has over 100 million subscribers. Maximizing synergies across its Group companies worldwide, SoftBank aspires to realize lifestyle innovation through IT. The SoftBank Group is also encouraging the adoption of clean and safe energy through its business activities. To learn more, please visit http://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/