Tag: proptech

Singapore – SEA-focused proptech PropertyGuru has announced that it has acquired Sendhelper, a Singapore home services technology company. With this acquisition, PropertyGuru enters the home services industry with an aim to provide easy and reliable access to home management and maintenance services. 

The acquisition is in line with the group’s growth strategy of expanding into adjacencies of fintech and data while investing in its core marketplaces business towards the creation of a digital property ecosystem for all its stakeholders in Southeast Asia. 

Sendhelper is a start-up that allows homeowners and tenants in Singapore to easily search and book home services for their daily needs through an app that connects them to verified service providers. The services include cleaning, air conditioner maintenance, and handyman and repair services, amongst other necessities. Sendhelper’s network includes over 2,000 trained and verified freelancers in Singapore. 

With the addition of Sendhelper, PropertyGuru in Singapore will become the one-stop destination for property seekers to not only find, finance, and own their dream home but also manage and maintain it. PropertyGuru’s partners, the real estate agents, will also be able to offer home services to their clients, property seekers and landlords alike and cater to all their property needs with PropertyGuru. 

Shyn Yee Ho-Strangas, MD of Data and Software Solutions at PropertyGuru Group, said, “Our entry into home services is an important step as we create solutions that provide guidance and make each step of the property journey more efficient, transparent, and trusted for everyone in the ecosystem – homeowners, buyers, agents, and developers. 

Rupam Biswas, co-founder and GM of Sendhelper, also commented, “PropertyGuru’s vision to meet consumers’ end-to-end property needs resonates deeply with us. Our vision at Sendhelper is to become the one-stop platform for consumers seeking help with property maintenance and home care. 

He added, “Post-COVID, as more people continue to use online solutions for their daily needs, with PropertyGuru, we aim to effectively digitise the customer journey for home needs. We look forward to co-creating tech solutions that will further ease the home services booking experience and increase users’ access to organised help as opposed to informal or ad-hoc sources.”

Meanwhile, Sendhelper Co-Founder Bogdan Metehoui, also said, “We are excited about joining forces with PropertyGuru and are looking forward to the synergies that we will create as a result of the two teams coming together. Our strong network of reliable suppliers and freelancers coupled with our focus on service quality, complement PropertyGuru’s customer orientation. We are determined to continue providing our customers with access to home services through a safe and reliable platform.” 

The proptech has recently unveiled a new brand positioning which emphasises its role as a helping hand to the home buyer’s journey. Encapsulated in the messaging, ‘Where every step of your journey will be guided by Guru’, the proptech said it’s meant to reflect its continued vision to be a trusted advisor.

Vietnam – Houze, a proptech startup in Vietnam that offers a fully integrated real estate ecosystem for agents and customers through its offline-to-online platform, has raised a $2m of funding led by DKRA Group, giving the company resources to continue expanding its services and growing its team to meet the demand in Vietnam and beyond.

Houze has created a multi-platform for both real-estate agents and home-buyers, offering integrated services from the transaction, management, investment, and financing options. It features services such as Houze Agent (digital brokerage), Houze Commerce (property management platform under SaaS), and Houze Invest (Fintech resulted from real estate), amongst others. All these services are integrated and linked in Houze, providing a seamless experience for its users, and managing to combine the elements into one unique platform. 

The newly secured funding will be used in completing the leadership team, as well as enhancing the core products. In addition, it will be used for the strategic partnership with Vietnam’s real estate service brand DKRA Group, which creates the advantage of exclusive inventories and enhances battlefield experience in the real estate industry in the country

Houze said that it is also in the process of closing an additional fund with venture capital to launch new products such as Houze Portal, Houze Super App, and Houze Finance.

Pham Lam, Houze’s founder, said, “Technology will disrupt geographical limitations and human capital, closing the gap between agents and home-buyers and professionalise the brokerage community.”

Singapore – Xaxis, the programmatic unit of media investment company GroupM, has announced a new partnership with Singapore-based proptech Really Singapore, as Xaxis extends its programmatic DOOH (Digital-Out-of-Home) network in Singapore, particularly among the prized audience segment of affluent consumers.

The Premium Audience Advertising Network features Really’s ‘eScreens,’ a network of digital notice boards installed in high-traffic locations across a growing number of condominiums throughout Singapore. As work-from-home (WFH) protocols become the new normal for many Singapore residents, Really’s ‘eScreens’ are presenting advertisers with new opportunities to engage the island’s high-income working professionals.

Joerg Zeugner, CEO at Really Singapore, said, “We are excited to collaborate with GroupM and Xaxis, two digital-forward entities owned by the world’s largest advertising company, WPP. This is where the best in PropTech meets the best in AdTech – a strategic alliance that opens up for brand owners the opportunity to effectively engage a valued audience segment living within premium, gated, and exclusive communities.”

Through the ‘eScreens’, property managers will now have the ability to distribute real-time updates for the benefit of their residents at any time, from anywhere. For brand owners and advertisers, these screens give access to a captive and recurring audience, with their content appearing alongside important updates, local news, and affairs of the estate. 

Felicia Poon, head of investment at GroupM Singapore, commented that as people continue to work from home, they see the partnership as a great opportunity to contextually and smartly engage them. 

“Really’s platform and technology will enable our agencies to enhance the value of our DOOH offering across condominiums in Singapore, cementing our position as the leading media company,” Poon stated.

Meanwhile, Josh Quek, managing director at Xaxis Singapore, said that the partnership roots from the past digital evolution of the past 12 months, which has introduced new ways of reaching audiences, in line with rapidly changing consumer behaviours. 

“Through this partnership with Really, we are pleased to be able to offer brands the opportunity to reach residents within the grounds of their condo. Delivering DOOH campaigns programmatically allows us to address concerns brands may have regarding measurability, proving that DOOH advertising truly is the future,” Quek stated.

Singapore – Property technology company Ohmyhome has launched its renovation services adding to the company’s suite of end-to-end services. From property searching to post-purchase services, Ohmyhome takes a step further in offering holistic home services to users, making the platform a home-dedicated superapp. 

The addition of the new service is in response to the perennial renovation woes customers face such as unclear costing, inconsistent communication, delays, and renovation disputes. Through it, Ohmyhome Renovation tackles these issues, aiming to deliver a simple, convenient, and quality experience for homeowners.

Within the new service, Ohmyhome connects users to in-house interior designers who will help translate the homeowner’s vision into concrete designs. Customers will receive a complimentary design proposal with fully transparent costing for them to know exactly what they are paying for. Once the proposal is confirmed, materials are ordered and the renovation is carried out with Ohmyhome’s partners.

According to Race Wong, co-founder and CPO of Ohmyhome, the recent launch of its renovation services extends its “ethos of simplicity, convenience, and customer-oriented service to this important post-purchase process.”

“Renovation is an integral step to turning a house into a home, every corner matters to us and customer satisfaction is paramount. That’s why we’ve gathered experienced in-house design and project management teams along with a network of trusted and reliable partners so that every renovation project will be seamless, timely, and of the highest quality,” Wong stated.

Singapore – Following the company’s expansion to the Philippine market, Singapore-based proptech company Ohmyhome is extending its cross-border transaction solution to the country. 

The recent company ensures property buyers and investors from Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines to conduct property deals, while ensuring local agents will work on their parts in these deals. Such cross-border transaction solutions enable foreign investors to rely on trusted local agents to transact on the deal, unlike on the traditional way of hiring third-party agents which may pose trust issues on transacting a property deal.

“The problems in cross-border real estate transactions have been around for a long time. We saw an opportunity to bring value to our customers in this overlooked area of the market by leveraging on our unique strengths as a regional proptech company. Having knowledgeable agents on both sides present at the same time and working together in the customer’s best interest provides a reliable and hassle-free experience for our cross-border customers’ real estate journey,” Rhonda Wong, CEO of Ohmyhome stated.

She also added that Singaporeans have always inquired about Philippine property investments, and since then the company has dealt regularly with Singaporean customers in regards to property deals.

“With Ohmyhome’s unique agency model where every agent works as a full-time professional and not as a freelancer, customers can be assured that no effort is spared in getting the best investment for their cross-border property deals,” Wong said.