Lamudi raises $18 million, merges Asia and Latin America operations

Emerging markets property listings site Lamudi raised EUR 16 million (US$18 million) in fresh funds this week to further grow its operations in Asia and Latin America.

It also announced that it merged its operations in both regions to form Lamudi Global.

The investment came from Asia Pacific Internet Group, a joint venture of Rocket Internet and Ooredoo; Holtzbrinck Ventures, the investment arm of the German publishing group; and current investor Tengelmann Ventures, a division of international multi-sector retailer Tengelmann Group.

Lamudi’s global co-founder Kian Moini says, “Since Lamudi’s foundation, our goal has been to build the biggest real estate platform in the emerging markets. In less than two years, we have created a comprehensive online database for house-hunters that stretches from the Philippines to Peru.

This significant injection of funds is a great vote of confidence in Lamudi’s business model and speaks volumes about the demand that exists for online property search in emerging countries. We will use the investment to improve our product on both desktop and mobile, while further consolidating our leading position across Asia and Latin America.”

Since its launch in October 2013, Lamudi has operated in 32 countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. It has 800,000 property listings globally, 550,000 of which are in Asia and Latin America alone.

The site, which focuses on emerging markets, allows property brokers to list homes for sale and rent. It has seen tremendous growth over recent years as more and more consumers take their real estate journeys to the web. In Asia, Lamudi competes against established players like PropertyGuru as well as iProperty.

Focus on the Philippines

Lamudi says the Philippines, along with Pakistan, will be a “focus country” for the company in its expansion.

Despite residential condominium sales slightly easing in 2014, the Philippine real estate sector continues to be strong on the back of robust economic growth, buoyant outsourcing industry, and the resurgence of the manufacturing sector.

According to Lamudi Philippines managing director Jacqueline van den Ende, the Philippines’ online real estate platform environment is wide open for dominance.

“This new round of funding will definitely further boost Lamudi Philippines’ already impressive performance,” she notes.

Lamudi launched in the Philippines just a year ago, but already it has set up two offices outside Metro Manila (Cebu and Davao) with plans for expansion soon. Close to 500,000 users visit the website every month, while its listings have grown to almost 90,000.