New Delhi: News Corp, the media and publishing company controlled by Rupert Murdoch, has acquired a 25 per cent stake in Indian real estate website PropTiger.com for $30 million (Rs 180 crore).
PropTiger.com, which is backed by SAIF Partners, Accel Partners and Horizen Ventures, will also receive another investment of $7 million from its current investors in this funding round.
As a result of this investment, Raju Narisetti, senior vice president-strategy at News Corp, will join the board of PropTiger.com's Singapore-based parent company, Elara Technologies Pte Ltd.
News Corp has a substantial presence in online real estate through its ownership of Move, Inc., operator of realtor.com and its majority stake in REA Group Limited, operator of the leading Australian residential property website, realestate.com.au.
“News Corp's investment continues the acceleration of its global digital footprint with an emphasis on India,” News Corp said in a statement. “The investment creates a network effect to complement and build on the strength of the company's collection of businesses, which include leaders in news, book publishing and digital real estate.”
Dhruv Agarwala and Kartik Varma, classmates from Harvard Business School, along with Prashan Agarwal, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian School of Business, formed PropTiger.com in February 2011. It has over 250 developer partners who market their new developments through the online platform.
The portal has sold over 10,000 properties worth over $1 billion so far, according to Agarwala.
