BackGrabhouse raises $2.5 million from Kalaari, Sequoia Capital
Firm is looking to use the funds to develop innovative products and improve the existing technology to enhance the end-user experience
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Mumbai: Mumbai-based Cryptopy Technologies Pvt. Ltd that owns and operates the online rental accomodation portal Grabhouse.com said on Wednesday that it had raised $2.5 million in its first (Series A) round of funding from Kalaari Capital and Sequoia Capital.
The company is looking to use the funds to develop innovative products and improve the existing technology to enhance the end-user experience. In addition to this, the company will be expanding its presence across major cities in India.
“Currently, a majority of real-estate deals take place offline but there is a marked shift in this with 30% transactions being enabled through Internet-based offerings. With an increasing number of users joining the Internet bandwagon, we are certain that this transition will happen at a faster pace which gives this segment an optimistic outlook." said Pankhuri Srivastava, co-founder, Grabhouse.com, in a statement.
Grabhouse.com offers a broker-free and transparent experience to house hunters seeking rented or shared accommodation. The portal uses a proprietary engine to map the needs and preferences of prospective tenants and house owners. The search process goes beyond basic parameters such as budget and location. It also allows a community-based model to source and verify listing-related information.
“The problem of finding the right rental property or paying guest (PG) still happens to be an arduous task for the seeker and the Grabhouse team has done a fantastic job of creating a proprietary matching technology to efficiently solve this problem for the consumer," said G.V. Ravishankar, managing director with Sequoia Capital, in a statement.
The portal currently offers houses in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru and attracts a daily traffic of about 500,000 visitors which is largely driven through referrals and word of mouth.
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