Real estate start-ups turn to building up small players

Backed by PE players and big corporate entities, start-ups in real estate are turning mentors to smaller players, who provide adjacent services like designing, listings and advisory, either by acquiring them, funding or even forging joint ventures.

Realty-focused start-up promoters say by doing so they are building the ecosystem for consumers to find all services at one place. Industry watchers say that investment in smaller firms will also lead to consolidation for smaller services in the residential category.

PropTiger recently acquired Makaan.com to create a platform that will offer property services and solutions to homebuyers.

The News Corp-backed PropTiger says anything that adds adjacent benefits to it will be a welcome addition to its portfolio. Raju Narisetti, VP, Strategy, NewsCorp said: “PropTiger didn’t have a listing service. Makaan added that to our portfolio. In future also, we will keep looking for such platforms which will add to the consumers’ experiences".

PropTiger had also invested in Bengaluru-based Out of Box Interaction, a digital interaction design company that specialised in displaying real estate projects.

Helion and Bessemer-funded Livspace, an end-to-end home design service provider online, acquired DezignUp, a dynamic design community and marketplace for consumers and design professionals. In May 2015, they acquired their second company Dwll.in, a curated online network of interior designers.

Anuj Srivastava, CEO and Co-founder of Livspace said: “Millions of users will experience online end-to-end home design for all their rooms, kitchens and wardrobes. Over 50 per cent of our traffic comes through the phone, we also launched our mobile app for Android, with iOS soon to follow. With the innovative Livspace app, you can discover, save and share thousands of looks for your home.”

Others like real estate advisory firm Square Yards acquired Luxe Real Estate, a Singapore-based real estate entity, for an undisclosed amount. It had previously acquired realizing.in, an online discovery portal.

Kanika Gupta, Head of Asia IPM and COO at Square Yards, said: “This deal completely complements our strategy to have a dominant position in international markets. The International Project Marketing (IPM) division in Dubai has tremendous demand from countries like the UK and Malaysia and improved product sourcing capabilities from global markets will only help us do more business in Gulf countries."

Real estate focused financing entity Brick Eagle, which has focus on affordable sector, is also bringing together the essential elements required for housing supply and by incubating companies to fill gaps in the affordable housing.

Brick Eagle began reaching out to start-ups and entrepreneurs to create companies that could focus on each step of the home buying process. 

Samir Jasuja, CEO, PropEquity says that such trend will continue. "The use of technology has grown exponentially along with consumer acceptance. With instant information access and consumers becoming more comfortable with the idea of selling their own homes, the real estate industry is hard up on keeping up with the changing tide.”

COMMENT NOW