An Indian startup that is improving the way how millions of people in the nation lease or buy an apartment is the latest firm to become a unicorn in the South Asian market.
Bangalore-based NoBroker has raised $210 million in its Series E financing round, its founders told TechCrunch in an interview. Tiger Global and General Atlantic, two existing investors, and Moore Strategic Partners co-led the six-year-old startup’s Series E financing round.
The round values NoBroker at $1 billion, up from about $350 million in April 2020. There was no secondary transaction — that is, sales of shares by any existing investors including the founders — in the new funding round, the founders said.
NoBroker helps people looking to buy or lease an apartment avoid brokers, thus avoiding brokerage fee. The startup operates in several major Indian cities including Bangalore, Delhi, Pune, and Hyderabad.
Over the years, NoBroker has expanded to several additional categories including financial services (to offer customers help with securing the rent, for instance), and home services such as cleaning, fulfilling furniture needs and movers and packers. It now also operates a service, called NoBrokerhood, that is aimed at communities to stay connected and manage and keep track of visitors. NoBrokerhood, which also allows society residents to buy and sell items from each other, competes with some of the offerings of MyGate, which is also backed by Tiger Global.
The new funding follows months of strong growth as Indian states relaxed lockdown restrictions earlier this year and mobility resumed. The startup said it has grown three times since last year, said Amit Kumar Agarwal, founder and chief executive of NoBroker, in an interview.
“NoBroker’s digital-first approach to efficiently solve renting, buying, maintenance and related needs for real-estate owners, tenants, buyers, residential societies and developers is paradigm shifting, said Shantanu Rastogi, Managing Director of General Atlantic, in a statement.
“Focused execution with a customer-first mindset of the founders bodes well for NoBroker’s continued penetration in this market solving for the toughest problems. In the future, NoBroker’s product stack will also find relevance in several under-regulated developing markets around the world. We are excited to be part of NoBroker’s continued success.”
This is a developing story. More to follow…
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