Property search aggregator Square Yards raises $10 mn

Gurgaon-based property search aggregator Square Yards Consulting Pvt. Ltd, has raised $10 million from the Lohia Group and Andre Hoffman, the chief executive of cosmetics company L'Occitane. A group of unnamed investors also participated in the round.

The company will use the funds to expand into newer international geographies and also strengthen its existing distribution network in over 10 countries, the company said in a statement.

The investment was made in the form of convertible notes. These are issued for a fixed term at a pre-determined coupon rate and with an option to convert into equity (at a discount) on reaching the next funding milestone.

The new funding round comes two months after the company had secured Rs 80 crore ($12 million) from the private equity arm of billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Group.

In May 2015, the company had raised $6 million (Rs 32 crore) in a pre-Series A round of funding from a clutch of unnamed investors.

"For this latest investment round, we reached out to our own set of real estate clients in international locations through our NRI sales teams. Majority of these new funds have been invested by our existing clients," said Kanika Gupta Shori, founder and chief operating officer, Square Yards.

Founded in 2013 by husband-wife duo of Tanuj Shori and Kanika, Square Yards offers solutions for property-related needs. It caters to residential and hotel projects, student accommodation and mall redevelopment.

The company claims to have crossed $1 billion in gross transactional value (GTV) in terms of total value of properties sold on its platform. It also claims net revenue run rate of $1.5 million - $2 million per month.

The online real estate space has seen a number of mergers. The most recent one was the merger between online real estate brokerage PropTiger.com and property listing portal Housing.com, announced earlier this week. The combined entity received fresh funding of $55 million from their main investors.

In September last year, PropTiger acquired Mumbai-based startup PropRates, which provides data related to real estate transactions.

In January last year, Tiger Global-backed CommonFloor merged with online classifieds player Quikr, and in 2015, PropTiger acquired property search portal Makaan.com.

IndiaHomes, backed by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), closed down early last year after its merger talks with JP Morgan- and Bertelsmann-backed IndiaProperty failed.

The early movers in the business, Info Edge's 99acres.com and Times Group's Magicbricks.com, have so far stayed away from the consolidation game.

News Corp, the largest investor in PropTiger, owns the parent of this website.