Housing.com acquires Realty Business Intelligence for $2-4 mn, looks to better analytics

New Delhi: Real estate portal Housing.com has acquired city-based start-up Realty Business Intelligence for an estimated $2-4 million deal (Rs 12-24 crore).[caption id=“attachment_2254656” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Housing.com CEO Rahul Yadav[/caption] According to industry sources, the acquisition will help the Softbank-backed firm strengthen its analytics capabilities to help consumers and investors make informed decisions about real estate purchases. “Realty BI helps clients manage risks pertaining to collateral security and helps them make informed choices about projects. With this acquisition, Housing can offer better value proposition to its customers,” sources said. Housing.com did not respond to emailed queries or calls. Sources said Merisis Advisors were the advisors to the deal, but the company also declined to comment when reached. Founded in 2013, Realty BI tracks real estate trends and creates collateral risk management tools through the use of technology. Its clients include banks and HFCs/NBFCs. Housing.com competitor Commonfloor was also in race for buying Realty BI. Previously, Housing.com had acquired Indian Real Estate Forum and reports suggested that it was looking to buy real estate analytics firm, PropEquity. Housing.com was started in 2012 by 12 fellow classmates at IIT Bombay and is seen as one of the most successful startups in the real estate space. Apart from the $90 million funding led by Softbank, Housing.com has investors like Helion Venture Partners, Nexus Venture Partners and Qualcomm Ventures on board. Housing.com competes with the likes of CommonFloor, 99Acres and MagicBricks. The company was recently in news for the spat between its co-founder and CEO Rahul Yadav and investors. Yadav had reportedly called fellow board members and investors intellectually incapable of any sensible discussion in a resignation letter. Later, he apologised and withdrew his resignation. PTI