Housing.com acquires real estate risk assessment firm RealtyBI

Mumbai-based startup Locon Solutions Pvt Ltd, which runs online property search venture Housing.com, has acquired real estate intelligence service firm RealtyBI for Rs 10 crore ($1.6 million) to enable customers assess risks related to new projects, it said on Thursday.

Techcircle.in had first reported on May 20 that Housing.com is to buy RealtyBI.

"Through our acquisition of Realty BI, Housing.com strengthens its technology platform and consumer promise to deliver a powerful collateral risk management platform addressing the entire due diligence lifecycle to validate new projects," said Rahul Yadav, CEO of Housing.com.

RealtyBI, also known as Realty Business Intelligence, is run by Delhi-based Realty Business Intelligence Pvt Ltd. It provides assessment, monitoring and analytics services for real estate sector on subscription basis. The firm was founded by former PropEquity CEO Rajeev Nohwar. Nohwar has been involved in the home loan & construction finance space with Bank of America, ICICI Bank and YES Bank. In the past he also worked with private realtor K. Raheja Group.

The company has been working with banks, HFCs & NBFCs across the country to provide a unified collateral risk assessment platform.

For Housing, this is its second buy this year after acquiring discussion forum IREF (India Real Estate Forum) for Rs 2 crore.

Mersis Advisors advised Housing.com on both the deals.

India's online property search business has turned out a fierce battle ground of multiple players backed by global investors. SoftBank-backed Housing competes with PropTiger and Tiger Global, Accel Partners and Google Capital-backed CommonFloor.com besides the legacy players-- Times Internet-promoted Magic Bricks, Info Edge's 99acres.com and Chennai-based IndiaProperty.

Online real estate space is also beginning to see a consolidation drive. Recently, PropTiger bought one of the legacy players in online property listing Makaan.com for an undisclosed amount soon after it lapped up digital design startup Out of Box Interaction (OoBI).

PropTiger is part owned by News Corp, the owner of this news website.