Agni to infuse $10 m in e-commerce space

NEW DELHI, FEB 3:
Property broking major, Agni Property, today announced a total investment of $10 million in the financial year 2012.

“Private equity firms like Helion Venture Capital and Foundation Capital have already invested $4 million in the company. They will on the whole invest $10 million in expanding its operations in the financial year 2012,” said Mr Samarjeet Singh, Founder, Agni Property.

The funds will be used for furthering the firms’ foray into e-commerce space and the Goldmine project.

Goldmine project

Goldmine is a dynamic pricing system, of the likes of online hotel and airline booking, which positions every sellable unit of real estate on the basis of comfort, luxury, market demand and availability.

Name change

Agni Property also announced the name change from Agni Property to IndiaHomes.

“The motive behind the name change is to stress on our pan-India footprint. Besides it is also a more internet friendly name and today’s consumer is as internet savvy as one can get,” said Mr Singh.

Rebranding exercise

The company is looking to spend close to $1 million on the rebranding exercise. IndiaHomes target 300-400 per cent growth in the financial year 2011-12 and a net transaction fee of Rs 25 crore.

Commenting on market sentiment, Mr Singh said: “So far the sentiments in the real estate sector have been on the negative side owing to interest rates and the rising EMIs. At present the RBI is looking to reverse its monetary policy stance. This would encourage the fence sitters to transact in real estate. The third quarter of 2012 should be a good quarter.”

“Close to 1.2 lakh customers come to the threshold of buying affordable housing every month. So there is a lot of latent demand,” he added.

Speaking on the Draft Real Estate (Regulation and Development Bill) 2011, Mr Singh said: “It will be a game changer leading to three to four times more growth in the industry. The customers will again begin to trust the real estate developers and there will be more transparency.”

The company is also planning to set up new offices in Ahemdabad, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad. Headcount for the firm will go up from 300 to 500 by the end of this fiscal.

IndiaHomes has already shortlisted two to three companies for technical partnerships for customer life-cycle management.

Keywords: Agni Property, Helion Venture Capital, Foundation Capital, e-commerce space, Goldmine project, real estate, customers, name change, IndiaHomes,