NoBroker targets profitability in 2 years despite recession woes
1 min read . Updated: 04 Jan 2023, 07:57 PM IST
PremiumNoBroker grew its revenue more than 2.6 times in FY21 to ₹166.6 crore from ₹63.4 crore in the previous year.
NEW DELHI : Tiger Global-backed proptech platform NoBroker aims to become profitable in the next two years, despite fears of an impending global recession affecting consumer sentiment and higher loan rates that have made homes costlier.
“We are aiming to turn cash flow positive by the financial year 2025," said Amit Kumar Agarwal, chief executive and co-founder of NoBroker. The startup became the first Indian proptech unicorn in November 2021 after raising $210 million from General Atlantic, Tiger Global and Moore Strategic Ventures. A unicorn is a privately held company with a valuation of $1 billion or more.
NoBroker grew its revenue more than 2.6 times in FY21 to ₹166.6 crore from ₹63.4 crore in the previous year. Losses however, widened to ₹189.6 crore from ₹79.2 crore during the period. The company has yet to file its FY22 results with the Registrar of Companies.
Agarwal declined to disclose the results for FY22 and projections for this financial year. He, however, said that the company’s revenue is growing in the range of 150% to 200%. NoBroker was founded in 2013 by IIT alumni Saurabh Garg, Amit Kumar Agarwal and Akhil Gupta. It began as an online property discovery platform that allowed buyers and tenants to find houses without any brokerage.
The company later diversified into offering real estate services such as home interiors, and packers and movers, besides acting as a payment gateway to let tenants pay rents directly to homeowners. In 2018, it launched NoBrokerHood, a society managing and accounting platform that rivals another Tiger Global-backed firm MyGate as well as Anarock Group-owned ApnaComplex.
Agarwal said the expansion into multiple segments has allowed the company to diversify its portfolio and give it multiple engines of growth. Currently, residential rentals and sales contribute bulk of NoBroker’s real estate revenue. However, in the past few months, the company has seen commercial business grow at a brisk pace following the abatement of the pandemic, said Agarwal.
Going forward, real estate will continue to be a major focus area for NoBroker as it continues to build the platform as a one-stop shop for all real estate needs, said Agarwal, adding that its focus would be packers and movers, home services, home interiors, and NoBrokerHood.
India’s housing market is expected to remain stable in line with the country’s economic growth, defying a global downward trend, according to a Reuters poll issued last month, which cited property experts.
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Agarwal, too, is bullish on the growth of the segment and pointed out that the industry is at a very sweet spot currently. He is confident of the industry’s continued growth for at least the next decade.
On prevailing higher loan rates, he pointed out that even though the repo rate of 6.25% seems high, it is actually on the lower end of 6% to 8% historic repo rates. “Home loans are still very affordable and we see the demand rising, not receding."
In India’s proptech segment, NoBroker competes against Makaan, MagicBricks, Housing and PropTiger, among others. Private equity investment in the space rose 5% in the first half of 2022 to $270 million, showing no signs of investor fatigue even in an unfavourable market scenario.
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