Funding and Investment Roundup: Avito, Spotahome, Third Door Ventures, Property Sense

This week's funding and investment roundup starts with a major deal in Russia that could see a public flotation shortly...

Europe: Russian bank RosselkhozBank acquires 50% of Avito ahead of mooted IPO

The state-owned bank RosselkhozBank has acquired a 50% stake in the classifieds giant Avito. Details of the investment were undisclosed.

RosselkhozBank acquired its stake from Kismet Capital Group, the owner of Avito. It is Russia's sixth-largest bank by assets, worth circa RUB5.5 trillion as of March 2025. It is controlled by the Russian Federal Property Management Agency.

According to a press release, "the parties are considering the possibility of Avito entering public capital markets in the future, while the  Russian press has suggested that Avito may seek international expansion into emerging markets soon.

Avito announced that the management team will not change after the transaction, which closed in April.

Avito is the largest c-2-c marketplace in the world by number of web visits.

Spanish rentals marketplace Spotahome receives €5 million in funding

Spanish mid- to long-term rentals marketplace Spotahome has closed a €5 million strategic funding equity round to fuel profitable growth. New investors include Actyus and Siesta Ventures, while existing investors such as Kleiner Perkins and 14W also participated.

Spotahome also announced a board reshuffle, including the appointment of Sergio Furio, who represents Actyus, one of the company's investors.

Spotahome operates in 26 countries and 104 cities, and says it will activate up to 900 cities in Europe by Summer 2025.

Alejandro Artacho, co-founder and CEO at Spotahome, said:

"This milestone would not have been possible without the talent, dedication and commitment of our entire team, as well as without the support and strategic vision of our board, made up to date of Passion Capital, Seaya Ventures, Kleiner Perkins and 14W; and other shareholders. [The participation by new investors] is a vote of confidence in our vision and Spotahome's potential to continue growing sustainably.

"Now Spotahome's objective will be to continue working on improving the user experience for both tenants and owners who use our platform, deepen strategic alliances and continue to grow to consolidate our position as market leaders."

The company recently announced a full rental payment guarantee for landlords and a full property management service.

Oceania: Third Door Ventures acquires homebuilder comparison platform iBuildNew

Third Door Ventures has acquired iBuildNew, Australia's largest homebuilder comparison platform, to build a unified, multi-vertical marketplace for high-intent property transactions.

The Melbourne-based group, led by entrepreneurs Mike Bird and George Glover, made the acquisition after a year of growth from its earlier purchase of Homeshelf, a rival homebuilder platform. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Glover said:

“We’ve had an incredible 12 months growing Homeshelf and saw real potential in what the iBuildNew team had built. They've carved out a strong leadership position in the builder comparison space, and we're excited to help scale that further.”

Founded in 2015 and previously backed by RACV, iBuildNew allows users to compare new home designs, builders and house-and-land packages. The company works with large homebuilders including Simonds Homes, Metricon and AHB Group.

With this latest deal, Third Door now controls what it says is the largest combined specialist audience for homebuilders and off-the-plan apartments in Australia. Its portfolio also includes apartment marketplace Urban.com.au and marketing agency Social Garden.

Bird said iBuildNew had originally been considered during the acquisition of Homeshelf in early 2024, but didn’t fit at the time:

“We spent a year working on our data infrastructure. As we went through the process, we realised that the technology we built enabled us to make these kinds of acquisitions and move them onto a shared technology platform.”

That shared infrastructure is now helping the group position itself for further acquisitions and new product development. “By bringing iBuildNew into the group, we unlock further scale to better serve consumers looking to buy brand new property and improve the tools developers use to connect with that demand,” Bird said.

The acquisition was supported by a follow-on capital raise that brought Carsales co-founder Steve Kloss onboard as a strategic investor and group chairman.

United Kingdom: Buy-to-let specialist Property Sense opens £1 million Series A investment round to the public

Property Sense, a PropTech partner for BTR operators, leasing agents and developers, has launched its third round of funding to raise £1 million in its Series A round.

Having previously secured over £700,000 from its existing investor base through two previous raises in 2024, Property Sense is now looking to raise a further £1 million, with £250,000 already committed in just three weeks. The company has opened its funding round to the public for the first time via the crowdfunding platform Crowdcube.

The funds raised in this round will be used to accelerate its PropTech adoption and market share, with a focus on doubling its headcount by the end of 2025.

Mike Haywood, CEO of Property Sense, said:

“The investment we’ve received so far reinforces the strength of our business model and has accelerated our progress. Opening our Series A investment round to the public for the first time goes one step further and represents a major milestone for us as a company. People are recognising an opportunity that directly responds to the UK’s housing crisis, with renters making up a growing share of the population. With greater pressure on the rental market, we are offering a smarter, scalable solution that eases the burden for operators and tenants through faster, more efficient leasing. It also supports ESG priorities by reducing the reliance on traditional, resource-heavy leasing processes."