Grabhouse, an online platform which offers rental accommodation services, has raised $10 million in Series B round of funding, led by Sequoia Capital and Kalaari Capital. The newly raised money will be utilized to enhance technology, launch new features and strengthen its presence across the cities it is currently present in.
The Bangalore-based startup, which was founded in 2013 by Prateek Shukla and Pankhuri Shrivastava, allows users to find housing in Indian cities. Initially, users are given two free leads and then the company charges a small amount to access more. The fee varies depending on factors like location, property availability, etc.
It claims that it has more than 4.5 million users visiting its website a month and works across 11 cities. Earlier, Grabhouse raised $2.5 million in its Series A round from Kalaari Capital and India Quotient.
It also claims to have served 10 lakh customers at more than 30,000 locations across the country. With the help of its platform, the users have saved over Rs. 10 crore in brokerage, claims the company. It has its presence in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Pankhuri Shrivastava, Chief Marketing Officer at Grabhouse, said,
Our key differentiator has been and will always be our technology-led approach targeted towards making online experience hassle-free. We are confident this infusion will help us realise our goals faster and increase our presence.
Vani Kola of Kalaari Capital, said,
Renting space in India is in need of some revolutionary thinking and measures to make house-hunting a joyous experience, across the board. Grabhouse, through a combination of technology and smart analytics, is addressing that need. Hence, together we should grow from strength to strength.
As per the report by India Brand Equity Foundation, the Indian real estate market size is expected to touch $180 billion by 2020. The housing segment alone contributes about 5-6% to India’s GDP while the real estate sector is the second major contributor.
