A lot has been going on at Housing, once considered (still, maybe) India’s most innovative and fastest growing startup. The post Rahul Yada era has seen a lot of changes — lay-offs (a massive one), leadership changes etc.
The investors though, who own most of Housing and are virtually running things at the company, are now frantically looking to turn this venture profitable. In a fresh measure for that purpose, Mint reports, that Housing.com has brought in advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal LLC to help them reduce their massive cash burn and turn profitable.
Alvarez and Marsal, which has helped big financially troubled conglomerates like Jet Airways and ABG shipyard Pvt. Ltd., will help Housing by providing insights on value chain, scalable approaches, risk and sustainability of business models.
Housing will perhaps be the first Indian startup in this segment, to have hired an advisory firm to help it steer out from the massive cash-burn and perhaps the ultimate closure of the company.
However, even though Housing hires Alvarez and Marsal, the company has maintained its continued activity in the acquisition space. It recently acquired Homebuy360, for a reported $2 Million to allow developers and agents to streamline sales lifecycle by tracking inventory and managing customer relations. The ultimate aim via this acquisition, is to generate increased revenues.
Various media reports, citing information from numerous inside sources, have stated that Housing is now run by an executive committee, with representatives from Softbank, Nexus VP deciding on more important decisions. The committee also comprises of interim CEO Rishab Gupta, Haresh Chawla—an early angel investor in Housing.com and former CEO of Network18— and Abhishek Anand (current CTO) are also a part of the committee.
Housing has till date, secured $120 Million from multiple investors, majority of which ($90 Million to be precise) came via Softbank’s big investment last year. The company, is now reportedly in talks with Chinese firm Fosun, to raise a further $100 Million, though discussions are still in early stages.
