SoftBank to give Housing an early Christmas gift

Japanese telecom major would invest $50 mn in the start-up in 'December or latest by January'

Housing.com is set to raise another round of funding to tune of $50 million from Japan's SoftBank.

The Mumbai-based start-up, which is backed by SoftBank, Falcon Edge Capital and Nexus Venture Partners, has already raised $100 million.

According to a senior executive from Housing, SoftBank would be investing $50 million in the start-up in “December or latest by January”.

“We have stabilised our operations to a great extent bringing down our cash burn rate substantially. We have also re-organised our business, doing away with verticals that were not important to us. SoftBank is satisfied with the way Housing is shaping up,” said the executive. The portal, which listed a million verified properties recently, appointed Jason Kothari as chief executive last month.

The start-up, founded in 2012, has also brought together its sales and marketing division to strengthen it and form “better synergy with monetisation and focus on core fundamentals”.

In August, Housing trimmed its verticals and laid off 160 people as part of its growth strategy. Another round of lay-offs was effected in November and the company was able to reduce its burn rate.

Earlier, sources had told Business Standard that the next round of funding would dependent on wage bill cut.

Of its five verticals — rent, buy, land, short stays and commercial — Housing has decided to focus only on the buy-sell segment.