Info Edge has acquired a controlling stake in 4B Networks, a proptech startup led by Housing.com’s founder Rahul Yadav. In a stock exchange disclosure in March, Info Edge had mentioned that it invested Rs 137 crore in the Mumbai-based startup and increased its stake to 57.16% on a fully diluted basis.
According to Entrackr’s sources, Info Edge is likely to pump in more capital in 4B Networks and the Sanjeev Bikhchandani-led firm may acquire 100% stake in the 18-month-old firm.
So far, Info Edge has invested Rs 186 crore or $24 million in 4B Networks across five tranches since February last year. As per stock exchange disclosures, all four tranches were infused through its subsidiary Allcheckdeals India (ACD).
According to Info Edge, the investment would help ACD to strengthen its offering in the real estate segment by providing a new platform to real estate industry professionals to conduct their business efficiently.
4B Networks, which was incorporated in November 2020, is engaged in the business of enabling real estate developers and brokers to communicate with each other and conduct their business via the Broker Network Platform.
The company claims to have more than 50,000 brokers on the platform and it has seen disbursal of home loans of over Rs 1,000 crore. These appear to be transactions via its platform and not on the company’s own loan books.
As of March 2022, Yadav had 33.59% stake in the company while the startup’s other director Pratik Chaudhary holds 0.69% stake. The company has kept 8.57% stake under its ESOP pool.
Entrackr had sent queries to 4B Networks, its founder and Info Edge on Tuesday morning. However, we did not receive any comments from them. We’ll update the post in case they respond.
More like Yadav’s previous venture, 4B Networks is a matchmaking platform (akin to Tinder) that connects brokers with properties and vice-versa. It’s worth noting that Housing was a direct competitor of Info Edge’s 99acres. To recall, Yadav left Housing in 2015 after a spat between the investors of the SoftBank-backed company. In 2017, Housing was merged with PropTiger in an all-stock deal worth $70-75 million.
99acres itself is finally on the growth path for Info edge, recording billings of close to Rs 80 crore in Q4 FY22, a 10% YoY growth. Yearly billings at Rs 232 crore are 25% higher than FY21 numbers.
With its legacy of being an internet pioneer with consistent profitability to boot, and a stellar record with its investments in Zomato and Policybazaar to name the top 2, Info Edge will have all eyes on it as it gets down to making its latest large bet pay off. And of course, internet watchers who were seeking the answer for a long time since Housing was sold, finally know what Yadav has been upto.
