SoftBank keeps Housing alive with $14.7m transfusion

India’s real estate startup Housing today announced a fresh round of INR 1 billion (US$14.7 million) in funding from existing investor SoftBank. That’s a timely transfusion for the startup, which reportedly has been burning through cash. It posted a loss of US$42 million for fiscal year 2014 to 2015, while its chief rival CommonFloor cited a loss of US$12 million.

Lately, there has been talk about the company and its backers attempting a stake sale, which its new CEO Jason Kothari categorically denied in a conversation with Tech in Asia. “These reports are false and, in fact, are in some ways the opposite of the actual facts. For example, we are considering companies to buy, not selling our company,” Jason said.

In recent months, Housing acquired a trio of startups – India Real Estate Forum, HomeBuy360, and Realty Business Intelligence.

After ending 2014 on a high with a US$90 million funding round by SoftBank, Housing went into a tailspin in 2015. Its founder-CEO Rahul Yadav had a protracted public battle with the investors, before being sacked. Hundreds of employees were laid off too.

See: ‘There are no rules!’ Housing CEO Rahul Yadav answers burning questions on Reddit

Meanwhile, the well-funded classifieds site Quikr entered the real estate vertical with QuikrHomes and merged with Housing’s main rival CommonFloor. The combined entity boasted of 2 million property listings usurping Housing’s leadership position. Newscorp-backed PropTiger emerged on another flank with its acquisition of established property portal Makaan.

Here’s how some of our readers reacted to the news.

But SoftBank, with billions at its disposal, is apparently not ready to throw in the towel. It brought in Jason Kothari, who was co-founder and CEO of Valiant Entertainment in New York, to head Housing. The new CEO has made monetization his priority, after the profligacy of the previous regime which embarked on expensive marketing campaigns.

Now the fresh infusion of funds extends the runway for Jason to execute his plans. But for SoftBank, which has announced plans to invest US$10 billion in India, US$14.7 million is no more than a token of support in a company that’s raised over US$150 million in total. So it gives little clue to how long a rope Jason will get.

In any case, 2016 promises a battle royale in the Indian real estate market.

See: Consolidation in real estate: Quikr and CommonFloor merge to kill Housing