99acres Parent Info Edge Invests $11 Million in Former Rival's Broker Network Startup

According to local publication EnTrackr, the Indian PropTech startup Broker Network has raised a 90 crore ($11 million) corporate investment round led by Allcheckdeals India Private Limited, a subsidiary of Info Edge.

Broker Network has built an application for Indian developers and brokers which offers a suite of services. It describes itself as a matchmaking platform that connects brokers with properties and brokers with buyers. According to a filing with the Indian Registrar of Companies, the money will be used to grow the business.

Founded in 2020 in Mumbai, the company claims to be one of India's fastest-growing PropTechs and has over 750 employees according to its Linkedin page.

Broker Network was founded by former Housing.com employees and is led by former Housing.com CEO and founder Rahul Yadav who left the portal back in 2015 after a disagreement with investors.

Today's news of fresh investment in the Broker Network is notable because the money is being put up by Yadav's former rival Info Edge, the company that runs 99acres, one of the country's top real estate portals.

The fight for supremacy in the Indian real estate portal market is very tight with 99acres and The Times Group-owned Magicbricks having battled it out at the top for many years. Australian portal company REA Group entered the market investing in Housing.com's parent Elara Technologies in 2017 before investing further and renaming the company REA India in 2021.

REA India has looked to consolidate the traffic of its portal sites Makaan and PropTiger and concentrate on Housing.com. The effort has largely paid off with Housing.com having overtaken both 99acres and Magicbricks in traffic recently according to Similarweb.