Manila, Philippines—Lamudi, one of the leading real estate platforms today, announced that the company has recently welcomed two of the world’s largest media and online classifieds companies, Axel Springer SE and Ringier, as new investors. Both companies will share a seat in the advisory board, which will for now be taken over by Ringier. The funding amount is not made public, but Kian Moini, Co-Founder and CEO of Lamudi, states that “the majority of funding can and will be spent on growth has given the company’s comfortable financial situation and a clear path to breakeven.”
Launched in late 2013 with Rocket Internet, Lamudi is a leading global real estate platform focusing exclusively on emerging markets. The fast-growing platform has active property portals available in Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) and Latin America (Mexico, Colombia, Peru). Lamudi counts well-known investors including Asia Pacific Internet Group (APACIG), a joint venture of Rocket Internet and Ooredoo, Holtzbrinck Ventures, and Tengelmann Ventures.
"We have proven to be of high value to consumers and industry players along the search and marketing of real estate. The new funding round will help us accelerate that, as well as significantly expand our efforts to add value along the transaction,” Kian Moini says. “Beyond the capital, we look forward to benefiting from the learnings and knowledge of the marketplaces and transactional property businesses which are part of the portfolios of Axel Springer and Ringier.”
Ringier AG, Switzerland's leading international media enterprise, is a prominent digital marketplaces investor in emerging markets across CEE, Africa, and SEA. Robin Lingg, Head of Marketplaces at Ringier, states “Ringier stands for investing in sustainable value creation. Lamudi very much matches our vision, as well as our interest in localized business models and country footprint. We have been deeply impressed by the company’s operative level of sophistication, its global and local management team’s capabilities, and eagerness to create value. We believe that Kian and his team will drive significant change in the real estate industry in SEA and Mexico.”
Andreas Wiele, President Classifieds Media Axel Springer SE, adds “The team of Lamudi has built, under the leadership of Kian Moini, a fast-growing business in attractive markets. As one of the largest operators in the digital real estate space, we are convinced that we can help to further this development with our know-how and expertise.”
“With this latest round of funding, we're positive that Lamudi, which is already positioned as the number one player in the market, will continue its growth path more aggressively in the Philippines,” says Lamudi Philippines CEO Bhavna Suresh. "It will fast-track our development into the provinces and help bring more industry practitioners online, thus making sure their businesses flourish. We are connectors and we believe that through digital, we bring transparency to the real estate market. This funding is going to help us move the needle much further in this regard."
