Bogotá Real Estate Investor Habi Closes $5.5 Million Pre-Seed Round From Venture Capital Investors

Bogotá-based real estate company Habi today announced that it has closed a $5.5 million pre-seed round led by Tiger Global Management, with participation by investors Homebrew and Zigg. Reshape Holdings, FJ Labs, Supernode Ventures and other investors. According to its website, Habi offers to quickly purchase mid-tier (under $90,000 USD) residential dwellings in Bogotá at a discount.

Co-founded by Brynne McNulty Rojas (Above left), and Sebastian Noguera (Above right), Habi hopes to simplify the process of buying and selling residential real estate for middle-income consumers in the complex, $10 trillion Latin American real estate market. Leveraging its proprietary pricing algorithm and platform for buying, improving and selling properties, Habi claims that it can reduce sales time from more than 14 months to approximately two weeks, mitigates the risks facing sellers in traditional transactions, and eliminates the need for intermediaries. Habi targets customers in the Colombian middle-income tier (Estrato 3 & 4), which has experienced 25% growth from 2008 through 2018, accounting for over 75% of Bogota’s population.

“By combining advanced analytical tools with human insight, we help our clients buy, improve and sell homes quickly and efficiently, giving them transparent access to information and, most importantly, peace of mind during the greatest financial event of their lives,” said Rojas, Chief Executive Officer of Habi. “We plan to use this investment to build and scale a single solution for current and future residential owners at every stage of the homeownership process in Colombia and throughout Latin America.”

“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 Noguera, President of Habi. “We are excited to launch the Habi platform to not only make homeownership simpler for local customers, but also advance the real estate ecosystem with more accessible data, robust technology and efficient processes.”

According to the Habi.co website, the company is currently focused on Suba, a blue collar area in the northwest of Bogotá. The company expects to expand to other key Latin American markets over time.

Says Noguera: “In the first year we plan to buy at least 100 used homes in strata 3 and 4 neighborhoods of Bogotá and start our expansion to other cities in the region. In addition, we have initiated alliances with the country’s financial sector, so that those who want to buy a second home of greater value, new or used, can do so automatically, thus strengthening the entire construction and real estate ecosystem,”