Tiger Global-backed prop-tech start-up NoBroker will expand to 50 cities in the next three years from its current footprint of 6 cities, driven by a surge in demand. The expansion will be executed in multiple phases, with the initial focus on entering markets like Kolkata, Surat, Ahmedabad, and others, according to a senior company executive.
Furthermore, the unicorn also aims to be cash flow positive in the next 18–20 months. According to Saurabh Garg, Co-Founder, and CBO, in the last two years, it has been growing 2-3x. In FY21, it reported net revenue of ₹166.6 crore.
The company calls itself a one-stop solution in the space of real estate and offers services including renting, buying, selling, home services (such as packers and movers, home interiors, and more), financial services, and society management services through NoBrokerHood. Currently, it is present in six cities: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, and the national capital region.
“In all the existing cities, we see a good number of transactions happening—every month we do more than 60,000 rental transactions; around 5,500 transactions would be for resale, and another 500–600 would be for new homes,” Garg said. The platform gets around three lakh listings every month, both rental and buy-and-sell.
As the company gears up for expansion into new markets, it will also prioritise achieving a break-even point for its existing cities within the next six to nine months.
The prop-tech start-up will focus on introducing more facilities to scale up the buy/sell process, which is a large opportunity. Similarly, another focus area is the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) market which opened its first office in Dubai to cater to the demand from NRIs.
“At least 20 per cent of buying and selling in India happens in NRI markets. Hence, we estimate the NRIs investing in the country and managing their properties as one big opportunity for us,” he noted.
Currently, it claims a user base of 16–18 million monthly active users on the platform and more than 10 lakh people do transactions with the property or use any home services or financial services.
Regarding the possibility of raising a fresh round of funding, Grag expressed, “Once we solidify our expansion plans, we will assess whether another round of funding is necessary.” Furthermore, once the company achieves profitability, it intends to consider going public. “We aim to operate for a while longer before pursuing an initial public offering,” Grag said.
NoBroker has raised $366 million in funding over five rounds, with the last raise in March this year from a Series E round.