Elara Technologies Pvt Ltd, Singapore-based digital real estate marketing and transactions services company and owner of Housing.com, PropTiger.com, and Makaan.com, announced today that it has received a credit facility of USD35 million from Citi Singapore, a first for the Indian technology start-up sector. The company, currently growing at a rate of more than 50% y-o-y, will use the fresh capital to accelerate business growth by investing in brand building, product & technology, sales force and geographic expansion. With the infusion of additional capital, Elara Technologies is well positioned to take the lead in the next cycle of growth in the digital real estate sector in India.
Elara Technologies has been working to create strong execution capabilities to offer a range of services to customers. Following the acquisition of Housing.com in 2017 by Elara Technologies, the company completed a restructuring exercise to ensure optimal utilization of resources.
Housing.com’s revenue more than doubled in fiscal year 2018, with 110% growth in revenue and 75% growth in traffic, helping it become one of the top three players in the digital real estate classifieds business. It has maintained its strong growth trajectory in the current fiscal with 77% growth in collections in Q1 FY2018-19. Housing.com will introduce a range of new products this year to further strengthen its customer offerings.
PropTiger.com achieved significant organic traffic growth of 93% during the first half of calendar year 2018. Its revenue grew by 40% during H1 2018, as compared to H1 2017. This robust business growth is expected to help PropTiger.com turn profitable within the current fiscal year.
Makaan.com is now the largest online marketplace in India with a total of 9,00,000 properties listed across the country, with a wide lead in non-metro cities. The portal has witnessed a 300% growth in revenue in H1 2018 over the same period last year.
Commenting on the development Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, Housing.com, PropTiger.com, and Makaan.com, said, “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.”
Wong Sin Ping, Global Subsidiaries Group Head of Citi Singapore said, “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 Technologies’ growth potential and the opportunity that we see in India’s digital real estate market over the next few years.”
As per India Brand Equity Foundation, the Indian real estate market is pegged to touch USD 180 billion by 2020, with the housing sector alone contributing 11% to the country’s GDP. With the addition of Housing.com to its portfolio last year, Elara Technologies emerged as one of the leading Indian digital real estate players offering a comprehensive range of real estate services.
