Housfy, the perfects the model

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

Housfy has increased its workforce to 100 people in just over a year and has diversified its activity.

In July 2018, Housfy was an emerging proptech company that sought a prominent place in the Spanish real estate market. It had just over 20 workers and a growth project in Spain, Italy and Portugal. Just over a year later, the company has expanded its workforce to more than 100 people, has opened new offices in the 22 @ district of Barcelona and its business model has not only consolidated, but has taken a step further in as for the volume of activity and strategy, which have diversified towards a more global vision of the real estate market.

"With respect to last year we have multiplied sales by 2.5. We are in 120 transactions per month. A traditional real estate agency sells on average about 16 a year," explains Albert Bosch, CEO of Housfy, on the result of the period of growth undertaken. For the firm, through which it has also increased its capital - "we have made two rounds of financing, up to four million," explains Bosch, which has led to the incorporation of two shareholders who know particularly in real estate business online.

In July 2018, Seaya Ventures, a Spanish capital fund, has invested in Glovo and Cabify. In May of this year, two other foreign funds entered, DN Capital and Torch Capital. The first has the peculiarity of being the main investor of the first online agency in the United Kingdom, Purplebricks. "It gives us a very real knowledge of the market. Much of what we are testing, they have already lived it in the previous company and can guide us in the correct development," explains Bosch. The second fund has done something similar in the US.

The participation of the founders (Bosch and Miquel Mora) has remained below 50%. "You can choose to play the game of funds or not. If you do not play, all the capital is yours, but you go slower. If you want to go faster you have to let them in, but your participation will be less," describes Bosch.

Integral platform

The induction of new partners has also led to the development of the business strategy. The firm intends to be an integral platform for the client when it comes to housing management, give liquidity, sell apartments or rent for and manage tenants. In addition, it has entered into financing. Both mortgage and refinancing. The mortgage department represents a relevant percentage of the company. The entrance has also entered the world of reforms. "Thanks to that, we plan to have a set of professionals that help with housing management," explains Bosch.

Mortgages are managed through banks.

"Banks are interested in being close to us so that we can pass them customers. We have agreements with all entities except CaixaBank," he says. Banks pay a commission for each mortgage, which is more profitable than performing the operation through the office. The fact is that Housfy has already reached a turnover of 5 million euros with all its business lines after two and a half years in the market and has started operating outside of Spain (in Italy and Portugal).

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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