Casafy, formerly Properati, raises $2 million after being bought out by OLX

Properati, now Casafy, was founded in Argentina in 2012. Since then, it has worked towards streamlining the way Latin Americans search for real estate. The company expanded into Brazil in 2014, with the help of the acquisition of Renato Orfaly's Imóvel do Proprietário.

Since its acquisition by OLX Argentina back in June of last year, Properati Argentina, Properati Brasil has rebranded to Casafy and will begin the rollout of more changes in the corporate structure. New investments from two international funds that became major shareholders (Australia's Telor, and Estonia's Morcote), brings the previous total investment of R$20 million (approximately US$5 million) up by another R$8 million (approximately US$2 million) to aid in the company's new stage of growth. 

"Brazil has always been a very interesting market for us, especially due to the differential of our business model against the possibilities that the real estate sector finds in the country. We continue to charge only for the leads of interested ones in buying and renting, but from now on we will also offer prepaid leads packages for real estate, always with the first lead of the month free," explains Renato Orfaly, CEO of Casafy.

There are more than 1.5 million registered properties on the portal and around 2,500 real estate clients active. Casafy expects a 30% growth in sales in the coming year, reaching R$4 million (approximately US$1 million) in Brazil, alone.

"For the end user looking for real estate, we have the differential of being a clean portal, concerned with providing relevant information about the average values practiced in the region, as well as offering types and comparative charts. For real estate, we are an important showcase with a big audience,"  Renato explains.

The property portal sees more than 800,000 pageviews a month and offers real estate agents different reports on the profile of users looking for real estate.

AVALUA, a new free valuation tool for brokers and apartment owners is also rumored for this year.

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