Habi, a Colombian real estate startup, announced it has raised $100 million in a Series B funding round, the second largest for any start-up headquartered in the Latin American country.
This Series B was led by SoftBank Latin America fund and counted with the participation of investors like Inspired Capital, Tiger Global, Homebrew, and 8VC. The funding round also broke the record for the largest round raised by a female CEO in Latin America.
The startup is behind the data-driven residential real estate platform of the same name, which targets middle-class consumers across Latin America.
Brynne McNulty Rojas, Co-founder and CEO of Habi, referred to the platform’s mission by stating:
“With our unique dataset and proprietary platform, Habi is transforming what was once a murky, painful, and months-long ordeal into a transparent, predictable, and easy process, completed in a matter of days. We are offering a value proposition that extends to all relevant stakeholders: homeowners gain reliability and access to liquidity, homebuyers gain a trusted partner, brokers harness data that empowers them, and banks can make better lending decisions thanks to the enhanced pricing information we provide.”
Over the past 18 months, the platform has seen its transaction volume increase by 40% despite the turmoil the COVID19 pandemic has caused in the Latin American country. Encompassing over 5 million households, the platform has gained popularity due to its ease of use, transparency, and reliability.
The startup announced it will use the recently acquired funds to expand its operations to Mexico, starting with Mexico City. According to Sebastian Noguera, Co-founder, and president, Habi has already established an “experienced leadership team” in Mexico City, which is already working toward expansion.
The success of the startup has been boosted by the growing popularity of digital platforms in the real estate industry, which is just starting to occur in most of Latin America. This popularity allowed the real estate startup to see its team grow nine times over the last year to 300 employees.
