Funding and Investment Roundup: Homelight, DCG, HouseEazy, Hapondo

Here is this week's funding and investments roundup. We'll start in the United States before focusing the rest of the roundup on Asia...

HomeLight secures $20M for "buy before you sell" model

The Arizona-based proptech company HomeLight has raised $20 million in equity funding in a round led by existing investor Zeev Ventures, with participation from another existing investor, Menlo Ventures.

Founded in 2012, HomeLight operates a buy-before-you-sell financing product and says it will use the funds to expand this core product to 40 new markets.

Homeowners can leverage their equity to buy a new home before selling their current home, with the product offered by 40 lenders in the United States. The company claims that it has unlocked $655 million in home equity from working with 10,000 top loan officers and 28,000 real estate agents.

HomeLight raised a Series D funding round worth $115 million in 2022 at a valuation of $1.7 billion.

HouseEazy raises $7M in Series A funding

India-based resale home marketplace HouseEazy has raised $7 million in a funding round led by Chiratae Ventures with participation from existing investors Antler and Alteria Capital.

The firm says it will use the newly raised funds to expand its growth across new geographies in NCR (National Capital Region), team expansion and product enhancement.

HouseEazy provides real-time price quotes to sellers, backed by a proprietary matching-learning algorithm with over 1.5 million data points. Sellers can conclude transactions instantly, without meetings and negotiations, at a pre-determined price.

HouseEazy claims users can buy a house in as little as five minutes using a fully online process.

Anoop Menon, ConsumerTech Sector lead at lead investor Chiratae Ventures, said:

"HouseEazy, with its unique model and vast founder experience, has built an end-to-end solution with exclusivity on supply and distribution. The company has shown significant traction in a short span of time, and we are excited to partner with them as they create the go-to destination for pre-owned home transactions in India."

The firm previously raised $1 million in a seed funding round in 2023.

Digital Classifieds Group (DCG) receives undisclosed investment from Living Lab Ventures

DCG, the parent company of multinational real estate marketplace Lamudi, has announced a strategic investment from Living Lab Ventures (LLV), a venture capital fund based in Indonesia. LLV is managed by Sinar Mas Land, a major Indonesian real estate development business.

The investment is a move that LLV says shows its belief in Lamudi to build the largest technology ecosystem in the Indonesian property industry.

Mark Nosworthy, CEO at Digital Classifieds Group, said:

"This collaboration will accelerate our growth and enhance our ability to provide cutting-edge technology solutions to users in Southeast Asia."

Bayu Seto, partner at LLV, said:

"With this collaboration, we see a great opportunity to expand our reach to Australia and strengthen our position in the Asia-Pacific proptech industry."

Mart Polman, CEO at Lamudi Indonesia, said:

"This investment allows us to further develop our platform, enhance user experience, and provide unmatched value to customers."

Hapondo acquired by sakan

The Qatari real estate platform Hapondo has been acquired by Riyadh-based property technology platform Sakan.

In a post on Hapondo's company Linkedin profile, the company said, "This marks a new beginning of innovation and growth in the real estate market in the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council]."

Hapondo is Qatar’s first homegrown real estate marketing platform.

Sakan, founded in 2016, offers proptech solutions across the MENA region and provides integrated real estate services.