Largest Venture Round in Spanish-Speaking Latin America in 20221
Highest-Valued Latin America Startup with a Female Founder & CEO2
Capital Will Be Used to Expand Suite of Offerings with a Focus on Embedded Financial Services
BOGOTÁ, Colombia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Habi (“Habi” or “the Company”), the data-driven residential real estate platform, today announced that it has raised $200 million in equity in its Series C funding round, becoming the first Property Technology (“PropTech”) unicorn in Spanish-speaking Latin America. The Company’s Series C also represents the largest funding round and only unicorn valuation with a female founder & CEO in Latin America1,2. The latest funding round was led by Homebrew and SoftBank Latin America Funds, with participation from Banco Mercantil del Norte, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Banorte (“Banorte”), Tiger Global, Inspired Capital, Clocktower Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst and Henry Kravis, among others.
Since its Series B funding round in June 2021, Habi has emerged as the clear PropTech leader in Spanish-speaking Latin America, empowering low- and middle-income consumers in the housing sector by providing access to liquidity and information in a market where data is limited and the majority of homes are not listed online. Over the past year, Habi has put significant emphasis on building out its services and proprietary database, offering customers a full stack of services including iBuyer, brokerage, financial services and marketplace. Habi’s market leadership and robust suite of offerings have translated into continued adoption of the platform, with revenue growing well over 20x in 2021.
“We’re thrilled with the progress we’ve made in the short time since our last funding round,” said Brynne McNulty Rojas, Co-Founder and CEO of Habi. “With strong partnerships and an expanded market presence, we are at the very early stages of building out the infrastructure to provide much-needed information, trust and liquidity to a housing market that desperately needs it—one we estimate at $2 trillion across cities in Spanish-speaking Latin America.”
Sebastian Noguera, Co-Founder and President of Habi, added, “We are extremely proud that we have built a world-class team that continues to demonstrate a deep commitment to our customers and who are building out innovative, proprietary tools with the underlying goal of democratizing the homebuying process for millions of consumers.”
Habi operates in more than 15 cities in Mexico and Colombia, representing an estimated population of over 60 million. Despite its rapid growth, the market opportunity remains vast, with millions of consumers looking for simpler and more cost-effective ways to navigate the housing market. Habi is well positioned to capitalize on this massive, growing market and will use the capital raised in its Series C round to continue to expand its geographic presence on a path to cover all major cities across Spanish-speaking Latin America and deepen its suite of offerings, with a focus on embedded financial services.
Satya Patel, Managing Partner of Homebrew noted, “Habi is revolutionizing the Latin American housing market by solving the many pain points that exist throughout the ecosystem. From day one, the company has transformed how consumers buy and sell homes. As it’s continued to grow its business, Habi is now enhancing access to related financial products like mortgages, providing independent brokers with improved access and tools to build their own businesses, and collaborating with financial institutions. We believe that by removing barriers between the growing middle class and a functioning housing market, Brynne, Sebastian and the team at Habi could unlock generational wealth creation for all of Latin America.”
Juan Franck, Managing Partner of the SoftBank Latin America Fund, stated that, “The Habi team has shown incredible discipline and execution expertise during a period of rapid expansion. This successful Series C is a clear example that there is significant investor appetite available for proven business models with strong unit economics and a clear path to profitability, even during the most difficult fundraising environment of the last 10 years.”
Key business highlights and milestones since Habi’s last funding round in June 2021 include:
- Mexico Financial Strategic Alliance: Habi and Banorte intend to create a strategic exclusive alliance to develop and distribute financial services to customers across Mexico;
- Product Development: Habi is now the leading buyer and seller of previously-owned homes in Spanish-speaking Latin America and the prominent mortgage broker in Colombia;
- Okol Acquisition: In January 2022, Habi announced its acquisition of online marketplace Propiedades.com and iBuyer Tu Canton, expanding Habi’s presence across Mexico;
- Expanded Operations: Along with the expansion into Mexico, Habi has continued to expand its presence throughout Colombia, and now operates in over 15 cities across Spanish-speaking Latin America;
- Leadership Team: In January 2022, Habi announced the appointment of Marcos Kantt as CFO to further support the Company’s growth through the development of its full stack of financial service offerings, as it continues to partner with financial institutions.
About Habi
Habi is building the digital infrastructure for an efficient residential real estate market in Latin America, with the goal of empowering families in one of the most important decisions of their lives: their homes. Since 2019, Habi’s data-driven tools, including valuation, transaction and financing products, have introduced transparency, speed, liquidity and trust to what had traditionally been an opaque and slow process for hundreds of millions of Latin Americans. Habi benefits all players in the ecosystem, helping brokers and banks make faster, more informed decisions, but most importantly, giving families freedom and control over their lives and the wealth they store in houses and apartments.
Habi operates in more than 15 cities in Mexico and Colombia, which have a total estimated population exceeding 60 million. For more information on Habi, please visit tuhabi.mx or habi.co.
1Crunchbase Latin American Funding Rounds, as of May 4, 2022
2Crunchbase Unicorn List, as of May 4, 2022
Contacts
Habi:
press@habi.co
