Pakistan property listings portal raises $20 million in series C financing

The funding comes three months after the startup closed a $9 million series B round late last year, reports Tech in Asia

Emerging Markets Property Group, formerly Zamzama Property Group, parent company of real estate sites Zameen and Bayut, announced today that it has raised $20 million in a series C funding round. The identity of the investor was withheld, but the company did say it’s an existing one.

The latest funding comes barely three months after the startup closed a $9 million series B round late last year.

Co-founder and CEO Imran Ali Khan said that the investment would be used for ambitious expansion goals within and across the region. The group is in the final stages of launching a similar venture in Bangladesh, as well as other countries in the Middle East.

“It is possible that some of the money will be used to acquire an existing company,” Imran said.

Zameen, the startup’s flagship venture, is a real estate and property listings portal focused primarily on the Pakistani market. Founded in 2006, the portal first raised funding in 2012 when French angel investor Gilles Blanchard participated in a seed round. In 2014, the startup announced an undisclosed amount in series A funding from Kuala Lumpur-headquartered Frontier Digital Ventures.

Bayut, the smaller venture in the group, is a similar property listings site but focused on the United Arab Emirates market. It was founded in 2007.

The startup claims to have field presence in over 30 cities with a team of 500 employees.

“Before stepping into these new markets, we have made sure to conduct thorough research […] our aim is to completely own the real estate space in both of them,” added Imran. 

This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here.