Square Yards – Disrupting the $180B Real Estate Industry
It takes something to build an organization of more than 1000 people, expand to 9 plus countries and be the largest player (by revenue) in its segment. The two and half year-old real estate start up Square Yards not only did that but also is maintaining its leadership position through strong focus on unit economics and profitability.
It took the company less than 18 months, since inception to become the largest player in the primary residential sales in India & Abroad. It also acquired three companies, Realizing.in, Luxe Real Estate and Oryden Tech Labs which were subsequently merged with Square Yards.
From a nimble & agile start-up, today the venture is on its way to become an MNC with 29 Offices in 9 Nations. It is boastful of a work force of 1000 plus employees cutting through multiple geographies & verticals.
The parent company Square Yards sells properties of over 500 Grade- A developers & against every sale closed, it charges a brokerage amount from the developer. Nothing is charged from the buyer for the service rendered. A major growth enabler for Square Yards has been its ability to structured deals with developers, which provide value to both buyers as well as sellers. The company has dedicated sales teams, handling domestic sales, NRI sales and international property management.
It has also built technological capabilities to offer multiple distribution platforms thus easing the scale up process. The property website, squareyards.com uses well designed algorithms to rate properties on bases on connectivity, livability, lifestyle and value for money. Visitors also have a glimpse of the maps of their chosen property regions along with price trends. Thus making a knowledgeable and clear experience for the user. The mobile applications are also built around similar functions and features.
It is also working on augmented and virtual reality through Scapes Works which provides solutions to developers in this space who are looking for enriching and innovative marketing techniques for their projects.
About the Founders
Square Yards, founded by husband wife duo – Tanuj Shori and Kanika Gupta Shori in 2013 had a humble beginning with just three people in a small office in Hong Kong. Tanuj, an alumnus of IIM Lucknow has worked at Nomura International, whereas Kanika, with experience in wealth management has had a stint with Tata Asset Management.
A seasoned investment management professional Tanuj, always realized the potential benefits of investing real asset classes as it offered against other asset classes such as equities & commodities. However, the unorganized nature of the business was a major deterrent but it also offered a major opportunity. It struck to the couple that if an attempt is made towards organizing the highly unstructured sector through offering unbiased advisory to discerning buyers in India & abroad & handhold them all the steps in involved in home purchase, it can make a major impact on the prevailing dynamics.
Although at the core of the company, Square Yards still driven by entrepreneurial spirit & innovative concepts that gives strong focus to a concrete revenue model & Identifying the growth hacks in the industry, identifying the growth hacks in the industry.
Focus Areas & Achievements
Providing a large array of services and offerings also proves to be major advantage to Square Yards as it provides convenience to developers and clients. The company has further diversified to other verticals in the real estate value chain. Bling Marketing is already Asia’s largest real estate focused marketing firm. It organizes the very popular Indian real estate event, IRR (India Realty Revelry). It also offers comprehensive marketing services to companies seeking global launches, lead generations etc. Till date, Bling has managed more than 50 IRRs and 32 exclusive events for developers not only in India but major international real estate hubs across the globe.
Started in August 2015, Square Connect is India’s productivity booster mobile app for real estate brokers. It already has more than 15000 brokers registered on its platform. It aims to connect brokers to quality real estate stock from grade A developers. The company has entered fintech space with Square Capital - A tech based unbiased loan advisory, it has disbursed loans to the tune of more than INR1550 crore. It has tie ups with more than 45 banks and NBFCs to facilitate loans like home loans, personal loans and business loans to its clients.
Awarded the real estate consultant of the year award, 2015 by DNA, the company has laid down ambitious plans for itself and its associate firms. While Square Yards will continue to grow across new geographies and locations, Square Capital, the fintech arm of the organization will look into further technological innovations and product outreach. Bling Marketing is another focus area which aims to diversify its offerings to wider audiences. Also in the pipeline is a new property management division which will tap the growing demand for property maintenance and management across India. Square Connect, the broker aggregation arm, aims to enroll more than 1,00,000 brokers by the end of this year.
Globally, Real Estate companies like Zillow, Sofun, Redfin, REA Group have created enormous value across markets however, the Indian market is still untapped with the existing players missing the monetization opportunity in transactions. Square Yards thus is uniquely positioned to garner a large slice of the Indian real estate market which is estimated to be worth USD 180 billion, as claimed by the startup. It is also registering a strong presence in the international property markets with its offices abroad and tie-ups with major international property players.
