Most real estate portals put agents out of business. This one gives them more business

Tech startups in the real estate space in India have been seeing a lot of action lately. There have been 15 funding rounds – totalling over US$30 million – and six acquisitions so far this year, according to research firm Tracxn.

Today, Plabro, a networking app for real estate agents, announced US$350,000 in seed funding from Flipkart co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, early stage funds Sol Primero and Outbox Ventures, and angel investor Sangram Singh.

Most real estate agents share their inventory with other agents to make deals happen quicker. Plabro makes this sharing and collaboration much more efficient. Networking between agents also helps real estate developers sell faster as end users are able to choose from a wider pool of properties.

The platform also helps users search for relevant information. The algorithm in Plabro’s backend learns about a user’s areas of interest and updates him with tailored information about properties. It also provides analytical data on current trends in the real estate space to make informed business decisions.

Another attraction of the online platform is that it enables real estate agents to find buyers from across the nation, instead of being confined to a locality or city.

Bridging the old and new

Plabro, which has been active in Delhi, will use the fresh funds to widen its footprint across the country.

It competes with SmartAgent Connect, an app for agents to create their own business networks and close deals in a shorter timeframe. It also provides tools to help agents build their own personalized websites and a CRM (customer relationship management) tools. Like Plabro, SmartAgent Connect also allows builders to connect with agents. The Mumbai-based startup claims to have 20,000 agents from across India on its platform.

SmartAgent Connect bagged US$750,000 in seed funding from a group of angel investors in August.

With over 500,000 agents, the unorganized real estate sector in India is estimated to generate revenues close to US$5 billion annually. Online players are focused on being part of this market by offering services that replace these agents. Clearly, Plabro and SmartAgent Connect believe that real estate agents continue to have a role to play in this large market. “Platforms that can enable the agents to service their customers better have great potential,” says Ramesh Jogani, founder of real estate fund IPAL.

In the last five years, investments worth US$298 million went into real estate tech startups, according to Tracxn. Mostly, these are portals like Housing and CommonFloor, which offer an alternative to the traditional real estate agents. Bangalore-based rental portal NoBroker even came under attack from brokers earlier this week for disrupting their business. In that context, Plabro and SmartAgent Connect play a balancing role by making real estate agents more efficient and relevant.