Colombian Unicorn Habi Obtains Us$6 Million Loan To Acquire Low-income Housing •

Less than a year after becoming the first proptech in Latin America to achieve unicorn status, Habi obtained a US$6.3 million credit facility granted by Bancóldex, a Colombian state-owned bank that promotes business development.

With the new facility, Colombian proptech Habi is estimated to have almost US$400 million in funding. Its most substantial capital injection came in 2022 when it raised a US$200 million Series C and a US$75 million credit line.

The proptech, which currently operates in Colombia and Mexico, digitizes the process of buying and selling properties, buying the property quickly for those who sell and assisting in obtaining a mortgage for those who are buying one.

The company said that the new financing will focus on expanding operations in its home country. It wants to increase its volume of buying and selling second-hand housing and offer an increasingly extensive portfolio to its customers.

“Now, with the backing of Bancóldex, we will bring even more agility and liquidity to Colombian families who deserve to see efficiencies in an industry traditionally slow and tainted by red tape and paperwork,” said Sebastián Noguera, president of Habi, which he founded with Brynne McNulty.

Colombian Unicorn Habi Obtains Us Million Loan To Acquire Low-income Housing — Brynne McNulty and Sebastián Noguera, co-founders of Habi (Photo: Habi).

Javier Díaz Fajardo, president of Bancóldex, said that with this line of credit, Habi will boost the acquisition of real estate, which will mainly benefit social housing and lower-income strata (strata 1, 2, and 3 in Colombia). Bloomberg Línea reported that the Colombian company would allocate more than US$250 million to purchasing housing in the coming months and that it could go public in 2024.

The proptech sector has benefited in terms of venture capital in recent years and was even one of the most popular in 2021. According to the forecasts of different VC fund partners with whom Contxto spoke, this trend will continue in 2023.

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