Internet and telecommunications firm SoftBank has led a $100m round for India-based real estate portal Housing.com at a $250m valuation, the Economic Times reported yesterday.
SoftBank contributed $70m of the $100m, acquiring a 30% stake in the process. The round also included Qualcomm Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of telecommunications technology producer Qualcomm, Falcon Edge, DST Global, Helion Venture Partners and Nexus Venture Partners.
The funding will support an expansion of the company’s business, with cash to be allocated to new technology, hiring and marketing, a source told ET.
Housing.com raised $19m in June from Qualcomm, Nexus and Helion, lifting its overall funding to $33.5m. Reports in September suggested it was raising a $30m round, but the company’s ambitions appear to have far outstripped that figure.
SoftBank’s participation is also evidence of its growing interest in the Indian e-commerce market.
The Japan-based company paid $627m for a 30% stake in e-commerce company Snapdeal late last month, at the same time as it revealed a $210m investment in online car and taxi service Olacabs and sources stated it was shortly set to invest $300m in online bill payment service Paytm.