Korean fund KTB Network makes maiden investment in India, gives NoBroker fresh $7M in Series B funding
In its second tranche of Series B funding, Bengaluru-based NoBroker raised $7 million from Korean investor KTB Network. The round also saw participation from existing investors including SAIF Partners, BEENEXT, and Digital Garage.
This is an extension of $10 million Series-B round announced in February this year led by BEENEXT and Digital Garage, taking cumulative Series-B round to $17 million.
“Now, our next target is to kick off the expansion process and reach out to as many places as possible. The next few cities on the expansion radar is Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad, where we are planning to launch in the next 18 months,” says Amit Agarwal, CEO and Co-founder of NoBroker.
According to Amit, this is the first time that a Korean fund has led the funding round for an Indian startup. Their Korean startup experiences will help the platform further with innovative ideas. KTB's global network will also aid the platform in its future global ambitions.
Launched in March 2014, NoBroker connects owners and customers directly with each other by eliminating the middlemen. The brokerage-free property search portal has so far closed four rounds of funding.
In February 2015, the platform raised $3 million in its Series A funding from SAIF Partners and Fulcrum Ventures.
This February, NoBroker.com raised $10 million in a round led by Singapore-based venture capital firm BEENEXT and Digital Garage along with other investors, namely BEENOS, Qualgro, and Mamoru Taniya of Asuka holdings.
In September 2016, Anand Chandrasekaran, Angel Investor and Entrepreneurial Product Leader, also invested in the platform.
Last month, the platform also received an undisclosed amount of investment from Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO of Paytm.
NoBroker claims to serve 1.5 million customers, making it the world’s largest C2C real estate platform. Presently, the platform is adding more than one lakh new registered customers on a monthly basis and witnessing five lakh customer connections every month, which leads to a saving of more than Rs 20 crore of brokerage monthly.
Real estate, a happening industry
According to IBEF, the Indian real-estate market is expected to touch $180 billion by 2020. The housing sector alone contributes five to six percent to the country's GDP.
There are many players who are offering solutions in the realty market — both offline and online.
In the online category, Magicbricks, 99acres, Housing, PropTiger, CommonFloor, Square Yards, Makaan, and many other players are offering selling, buying, and renting facilities.
Earlier this year, online classified major Quikr acquired realty portal CommonFloor for an undisclosed amount.
Last August, Housing acquired cloud-based sales lifecycle management platform HomeBuy360 for $2 million.
Last October, Square Yards announced the acquisition of Ahmedabad-based Oryden Tech Labs, which specialises in 3D architectural and industrial visualisation, 2D animation, and creative design. This week, it raised $12 million from Anil Ambani-led Reliance group.
