DMGI leads $3M funding round in commercial realty data & analytics startup Propstack

DMG Information (DMGI) has led a $3 million (Rs 18.3 crore) Series A round of funding in Mumbai-based commercial real estate intelligence provider Propstack Services Pvt Ltd, it said on Wednesday.

DMGI is a subsidiary of UK-based media house Daily Mail and General Trust, the publishers of British newspaper Daily Mail.

Real Capital Analytics, which provides a suite of reports and tools to research commercial real estate, has also participated in this funding round.

Two-year old Propstack serves corporates, funds, rating agencies, brokers, property owners and developers with information on commercial buildings in Mumbai.

It will use the funds to expand its services to the commercial real estate hubs of Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad and Kolkata. The company also aims to launch additional products and augment its headcount.

Propstack's business is based on an online subscription model that provides building information, analytics, client stacking, availability/vacancy details, transaction details and trends.

This is DMGI's first investment into the Indian data and technology business for commercial real estate.

Tej Kapoor, country head,  DMGI India, said, "Commercial real estate (CRE) is one the largest asset classes in India which has been highly underserved when it comes to reliable data. Propstack by leveraging technology has created a scalable product which will disrupt the way CRE data is consumed in India."

DMGI has a portfolio of B2B, information media businesses in the property, education, energy, commodity and structured finance sectors, primarily in the US and Europe, and is expanding globally.

It has invested in Indian tech ventures such as iProf Learning Solutions India Pvt Ltd (digital education player), Skymet (agri-risk data company) and RMS (technology event company).

As a group, DMGT also has interest in Mail Today (daily tabloid in partnership with India Today).

DMGI was earlier in talks with real estate data and analytics company PropEquity which primarily focuses on residential segment. However, the talks did not progress.

As first reported by VCCircle on May 15, Housing.com, which was in advanced level of talks to acquire PropEquity, has reviewed its plans to buy the firm, primarily due to differences over valuation.

Samir Jasuja, founder of PropEquity, told VCCircle the company is in talks with a couple of investors and it is too early to say whether the discussions would result in a substantial fundraising or acquisition. PropEquity's majority stake holder American hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management Group is looking for an exit.