Japanese telecom firm Softbank invests $90 mn in Housing.com
16 Dec 2014
House hunting platform Housing.com has raised $90 million investment led by the Japan's telecommunications and Internet company SoftBank Group, making it the largest investor in the Indian company. Falcon Edge is among other investors.
With this round of funding, the SoftBank Group will become the largest investor in Housing.com, which has now raised over $121 million in two 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 to indicate if the properties are still available or have been sold or rented.
These buttons will convert all curated houses database into assets for Housing.com, and can be reactivated when they're again available in the market.
''Ever since we started the company we had a huge vision, to help 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,'' said Advitiya Sharma, Co-Founder of Housing.com.
Through this partnership with Housing.com, SoftBank aims to further invest in India's digital infrastructure and build synergies with its network of Internet companies in India and around the world.
''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,'' said Nikesh Arora, vice chairman of SoftBank Corp and CEO of SoftBank Internet and Media.
Morrison & Foerster LLP and AZB & Partners were the legal advisors, and Raine Group LLC financial advisor to SoftBank. Krishnamurthy and Company was the legal advisor and Avendus Capital the financial advisor to Housing.com.
Housing.com has over 1,500 employees in over 45 cities across India.
