PropTiger parent gets $35 mn financing for expansion

Singapore-based Elara Technologies Pte. Ltd, which operates Housing.com, PropTiger.com and Makaan.com, has received a loan of $35 million (Rs 244 crore) from Citi Singapore. The company, which provides real estate marketing and transaction services, will invest the capital in brand building, product and technology development, sales force and geographic expansion. 

“Our consistent high double-digit growth momentum and mode of financing reflect the strong fundamentals of our company. We expect this funding to catalyse our next phase of growth and build our leadership in the rapidly expanding digital real estate space in India,” said group chief executive Dhruv Agarwala. 

In January 2017, VCCircle reported that Elara-owned PropTiger.com would complete its merger with Softbank-backed Housing.com in an all-stock deal. 

It was reported then that the combined entity would get $55 million from the main investors of PropTiger.com and Housing.com. Incorporated in 2011, digital real estate advisory firm PropTiger counts News Corp, Accel Partners, Saif Partners and Horizon Ventures among its investors. The company claims it has facilitated transactions worth $2 billion since inception.

“India's real estate sector is growing at a healthy pace on the back of strong overall market demand. This transaction demonstrates our confidence in Elara’s growth potential and the opportunity that we see in India’s digital real estate market over the next few years,” said Wong Sin Ping, global subsidiaries group head of Citi Singapore, in a statement.

 Going by India Brand Equity Foundation, the country’s real estate market is set to touch $180 billion by 2020, with the housing sector alone accounting for 11% of the country’s GDP (gross domestic product). PropTiger has consolidated its share in the real estate market, which has other players such as InfoEdge’s 99acres, Times Internet-owned MagicBricks and Quikr’s CommonFloor. 

Another company run by Elara, Housing.com, doubled revenues for 2017-18. The company will introduce new offerings this year, apart from listing properties for rent through brokers across cities. Makaan.com, which was acquired by Elara in 2015, provides a marketplace model for buying, renting and selling properties and works on a post-paid advertising fee model. It claims to have 10,000 active sellers. 

News Corp, the main investor in Elara, also owns the parent of this news website.