Elara Technologies plans to use the new infusion of funds to invest in product development, sales functions and enablement, brand building, and expansion of its locations.
Singapore-based Elara Technologies has secured $35 million in debt financing from Citi Singapore. To date, the company has raised $105 million in equity financing. This is the first time the company has secured debt financing.
Owner of Housing.com, Makaan.com, and PropTiger.com, the company plans to use the new infusion of cash to grow the business. It will invest in several areas for business growth including brand development, product creation and development, technology, sales functions and enablement, and geographical placement and expansion.
Additionally, the first truly online-to-offline (O2O) real estate services platform in India will hire 150 additional sales people to add to its team. With the new hires, the sales headcount would reach 1500 employees, according to the company’s CEO Dhruv Agarwala.
The company claims to be growing at a rate of over 50% year-on-year. The fundraise comes at a perfect time with this much growth. The company’s CEO said, “The last two years of downturn in the market have given way to an upward trajectory in the real estate industry at a macro level even as clarity on the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Bill has infused confidence among developers. This makes us confident that our transaction business, PropTiger, will reach break-even by the end of FY19.”
Elara Technologies is backed by News Corp as well as REA, SAIF Partners, Softbank, and Accel Partners. Its competitors in the industry include 99acres.com and Magicbricks.com.
CEO Dhruv Agarwala said of the new development, “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.”
