The most common problem people face in rental property is the inclusion of middlemen. The high brokerage rates tend to more often or not make the customers lose properties they like. Not only the inclusion of middlemen but also no transparency seen in property transactions were a few of the problems customers used to face before this prop-tech startup was introduced.
The owners had experienced the same problem in their college and early corporate days and hence united in 2014 to develop this startup with a simple yet powerful idea – connecting property owners directly with buyers and renters, bypassing the need for intermediaries.
This visionary approach aimed to alleviate the burden of exorbitant brokerage fees, which had long plagued the real estate market.
Amit Kumar Agarwal an ex-IITian and IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, earlier being a part of PwC – A big 4 firm joined hands with Saurabh Garg an IIT Bombay alumnus and Amit’s batchmate in IIM who had also served in the sales and marketing team of Hindustan Unilever and them along with Akhil Gupta – an IIT Bombay alumnus together founded Nobroker with a mission to eliminate brokerage fees and to bring transparency in property transactions.
The Saas-modeled firm now provides all kinds of real estate services in a marketplace that involves buying, selling, renting, packing, movers, and home services.
The basic aim of the startup is to ensure seamless interaction between the property owners and its customers thereby completely eliminating the inclusion of middlemen and putting the concept of brokerage to rest.
The Bengaluru-based firm has received its latest funding of $5M in SeriesE which was announced in March 2023, the funding was led by Google.
Developed in 2014, the firm in its initial years faced resistance from brokers, with some even resorting to physical attacks on their offices. However, undeterred by adversity, NoBroker remained focused on its mission and turned challenges into opportunities.
They took customer feedback to heart, continuously improving their platform to cater to evolving needs and provide an unparalleled user experience. The proptech sector-based firm now aims for a valuation of $1Billion approximately in FY2024.
Year-on-Year Analysis
In 2020, the valuation of the company stood at Rs.63.34Cr with a tremendous growth rate of 200% observed as the total revenue increased to Rs.79Cr in FY20 from Rs.39Cr in FY19. The total funding raised in FY20 was $182M and the net loss suffered was $13.5M. Most of the funding was led by Tiger Global Management in FY20.
For the next financial year, a further increase in growth rate was observed as total revenue rose to Rs.166Cr in FY21. Only a single funding was attained by the startup this year $30M led by General Atlantic. The net loss statement as recorded was Rs.190Cr.
For FY22, the valuation showed an exponential growth to $1000M thanks to $215M funding led by General Atlantic, Tiger Global Management, and Moore Strategic Ventures. The total revenue earned was Rs.326Cr while the growth rate was 196%. The company incurred a loss of Rs309Cr in FY22.
In the next financial year, a decline in the valuation of the startup was observed at $972M.The growth rate further declined at 113%, the total revenue was Rs.370Cr and the overall funding raised in FY23 was $48M.Interestingly, the financial reports were submitted by the Bengaluru-based firm after a long duration of 15 months. The SaaS-modeled firm now aims to have a valuation of $1.01B in FY24.
Expansion
The Bengaluru-based real estate portal announced in July 2023 that it is planning to expand its presence from 6 to 50 cities in the next three years where the initial focus will be on cities like Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Surat, where the words of Saurabh Garg in an interview with The Hindu. The proptech firm experiences a good number of transactions happening in each of the existing cities, the owner further said.
Competitors
Out of many the main competitors of NoBroker at current times are squareyard.com, commonfloor.com, housing.com, 99acres.com, magicbricks.com, makaan.com, and proptiger.com. NoBroker currently ranks 2nd among all of its competitors only behind housing.com
Acquisition
NoBroker after launching itself in Delhi-NCR quickly made its first acquisition in an all-cash deal. It acquired Society Connect with the amount being undisclosed. The aim behind this deal is to solidify its hold on the visitor and community management space where it already has its presence with its app NoBrokerHood.
