November 22, 2021
Homebase founders Junyuan Tan and Phillip An. Homebase is a a Vietnam-based fintech platform with
ambitions to bring home ownership to the underserved.
Article and Image reprinted. Original link: Deal Street Asia
Ho Chi Minh-based proptech startup Homebase has raised $30 million in equity and debt from a group of foreign investors including Y Combinator, Partech Partners, Goodwater Capital, according to an announcement.
Other investors including Ace and Company, Emles Advisors and Foundamental, alongside Michael Seibel, CEO of Y Combinator, and operators and executives from SoFi, Opendoor, Republic, Microsoft, Instacart, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Binance also participated in this funding round.
Homebase was founded by Junyuan Tan and Phillip An who originally started it in Singapore but decided to focus on Vietnam.
Its platform makes homeownership accessible to consumers in underserved market segments.
Homebase's other backers include VinaCapital Ventures, Class 5 Global, Pegasus Technology Ventures, 1982 Ventures, Antler and Darius Cheung, the founder and CEO of 99.co, Brian Ma (Co-founder and ex-CEO of Divvy Homes); Troy Steckenrider III (ex-COO of Zerodown).
The company will use the fresh fund to expand its market leadership in Southeast Asia's proptech industry and come one step closer in its mission of empowering homeownership for 100,000 families across Southeast Asia, one family at a time.
In the coming months, Homebase is set to further develop its proprietary technology, launch additional partnerships with real estate developers and agents, and increase its talent base.
"Rising prices, and strict mortgage criteria make buying a home extremely difficult in Southeast Asia - Homebase is creating a new financial path and for the first time, giving underserved consumers a new way to own a home," said Michael Siebel, CEO of Y Combinator and Homebase investor.
In March, Homebase announced it raised $125,000 from renowned US-based accelerator Y Combinator (YC).
Last year, the proptech startup had raised an undisclosed amount in its pre-Series A round to develop new alternative financial solutions to serve homeowners in Vietnam. According to a statement, the size of the round was a "7-figure sum".
The burgeoning proptech market in Vietnam is increasingly catching the fancy of investors. In August, Vietnam-based private equity firm Mekong Capital invested $10.2 million in local proptech startup Rever from Mekong Enterprise Fund IV.
Rever last raised $2.3 million led by GEC-KIP Technology and Innovation Fund in September 2019. The startup had earlier bagged another $4 million financing from Vietnam's homegrown venture capital firm VinaCapital Ventures.
Meanwhile, in 2020, Propzy closed a $25 million series A round led by real estate private equity firm Gaw Capital and SoftBank Ventures Asia.
"We expect investments to continue to flow into the Vietnam proptech space, particularly as Vietnam and the rest of the region recovers from COVID and as consumer sentiments continue to improve," said Kenneth Low, principal at SoftBank Ventures Asia told DealStreetAsia in an earlier interview
About Homebase
Homebase is a real estate technology company that provides innovative home ownership and financing solutions across Southeast Asia. Currently available in Vietnam, Homebase is backed by VinaCapital Ventures, Class 5 Global, Pegasus Ventures, 1982 Ventures, Iterative VC and Antler, as well as the founders and executives at disruptive real estate financing companies including Opendoor, Zerodown and Divvy Homes. Homebase was founded by JunYuan Tan and Phillip An, and comprises of veteran real estate investors, computer scientists, and serial entrepreneurs hailing from organizations like Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, and LinkedIn.
For more information, please visit us at: http://homebase.com.vn/
