Colombian proptech Habi snags US$5.5 million in pre-seed round

Contxto – Not every startup can boast receiving US$5.5 million in a pre-seed investment within six months of its founding. As of this week, the Colombian proptech Habi now has bragging rights.

Leading this round was Tiger Global Management accompanied by Homebrew and Zigg. Supernode Ventures, Reshape Holdings and FJ Labs also played a part.

Now, what made this startup such a hit so early in the game? Perhaps the answer lies in Habi’s combination of real estate insight and tech to simplify the process of buying and selling a home in Latin America. But hey, don’t take my word for it.

“The early support from these high-caliber institutional investors demonstrates the strength of our business and confidence in our team of seasoned technology and real estate professionals,” said Sebastián Noguera, President of Habi. 

Providing quick sources of liquidity, Habi has its eyes set on middle-class homeowners and hunters. Reportedly, this startup can reduce the sales time of property from 14 months to around two weeks. All the while, it reduces the need for intermediaries. Since Habi purchases the properties, it also lowers the risk sellers face in such transactions.

Chugging along, the startup shall spend these funds to launch into three middle-class neighborhoods in Bogotá and eventually into other Latin American markets.

Habi at a glance

Real estate savvy Brynne McNulty Rojas and tech pro Noguera founded Habi in June of this year. Meanwhile, the startup’s use of big data and AI are what enable it to make the homeownership lifecycle more efficient.

To begin, users simply need to register their property and characteristics online. From there, the platform calculates its worth based on similar properties, surroundings, among other factors.

After crunching the numbers, a pre-offer is almost immediately sent to the owner. If accepted, a representative on behalf of Habi visits the property in person. Depending on the appraisal, Habi makes an offer and the deal is more-or-less closed in 10 business days. 

Regardless of having a mortgage or needing repairs, Habi considers a variety of properties when it comes to buying.

Proptech solutions 

As someone who grew up moving from one house to another quite often, I know one thing when it comes to buying or selling property:

It can be a long, not-so-user-friendly process, which is why I can understand how Latin America proptechs with similar models like Flat in Mexico, Chilean OpenCasa and more recently, Habi in Colombia, can be so attractive. I just wish they’d been around when I was a kid. In retrospect, it would’ve saved my family a ton of time.

-ML