Mumbai-based Housing.com in talks to raise $40M

“Technology and analytics will be the biggest differentiator and game-changer in the online real estate industry,” says Rahul Chowdhri, an investor in Mumbai-based Housing.com, reportedly in talks with investors to raise an additional $40 million.

Chowdhri is talking about India’s real estate industry, where Housing.com, founded in June 2012, now competes with upstarts like PropTiger and CommonFloor.

The Economic Times reports that just like in the U.S., Indian buyers are looking for hyperlocal data shedding light on factors like crime, school quality, commute times, and access to public transit.

“Is the area safe? Are the nearby schools good? Will the builder give possession of the house on time?” 44-year-old investment banker Sameer Rana tells the Times. “All such questions plundered my mind and I did not have the time to go through every property myself to decide.”
Real estate brokers, he said, “could not be trusted.” Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com.