Property startup 99 Group acquires Singapore Real Estate Exchange

Southeast Asian property startup 99 Group announced that it has acquired Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX), a property platform and real estate data provider in Singapore.

Darius Cheung on stage at Tech in Asia Jakarta 2017. Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

With the agreement finalized on November 7, 2020, 99 Group will acquire all of the shares in Streetsine Singapore Pte. Ltd., which operates SRX.

The transaction is expected to be completed by Q2 next year, the company said in a statement. All of SRX’s employees will be retained and 99 Group will be integrating the team in the coming weeks.

Founded in 2009, SRX develops its own real estate data tools, including X-Value, an AI algorithm that it claims provides an “instant and accurate” estimate of a property’s value, and other products such as the Analyzer and Home Report.

“Reliable property data is especially important as property hunting continues to shift online even though physical viewings are now allowed again, suggesting a lasting change in consumer behavior. The real estate industry needs to digitalize accordingly to meet evolving consumer needs,” said 99 Group CEO Darius Cheung.

The move follows the company’s expansion in Indonesia, where it acquired local property site UrbanIndo and formed a joint venture with property search engine Rumah 123 in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Based in Singapore, 99 Group operates 99.co, iProperty Singapore, and Rumah 123. It has offices in Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung.

Amid Covid-19, the company has accelerated its tech development for the digitalization of the property buying and selling process. In September, it hired 100 tech staff over 12 months to grow its product and engineering teams.

The company is up against rivals such as PropertyGuru, which raised about US$220 million in funding from TPG and KKR in September.