Housing.com parent company REA India appoints Praveen Sharma as CEO

Sharma had earlier worked in Paytm and Google. He has an experience of 25 years in senior management roles across technology, digital, media and advertising in India and Asia Pacific

REA India, which owns Housing.com and PropTiger, has appointed Praveen Sharma as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Sharma had earlier worked in Paytm and Google.

On April 3, Dhruv Agarwala resigned as CEO of REA India to pursue his own entrepreneurial journey.

In a statement on Tuesday, Australia's REA Group said "Praveen Sharma has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of REA India and will join REA Group's Executive Leadership Team."  Sharma has an experience of 25 years in senior management roles across technology, digital, media and advertising in India and Asia Pacific.

Most recently, Praveen was with Paytm, where he built and ran several different businesses including ads, online payments and commerce services.

Prior to Paytm, Praveen spent nine years with Google, including as Regional Director Performance media-APAC, where he was responsible for Performance ad-products across the region.

REA Group Chief Executive Officer Owen Wilson noted that Sharma's depth of experience in digital businesses across the region will add significant value to REA India.

"Praveen has a successful track record delivering results, building and leading high performing teams and growing product and technology capabilities. I look forward to his contributions as he leads REA India in its next phase of growth."  Commenting on his appointment, Sharma said: "I am thrilled to be joining REA India at such an exciting time and leading the team will be a privilege. The opportunities ahead in the dynamic Indian proptech market are significant and I believe REA India is strongly positioned to deliver."  Praveen will join REA India in July at its headquarters in Gurugram, India, working closely with Dhruv Agarwala, current CEO of REA India, to ensure a smooth leadership transition.

In 2011, Agarwala co-founded proptech firm Elara Technologies which owned PropTiger, one of the leading housing brokerage firms in the country.

Later in 2017, he acquired Housing.com from Softbank and others.

Australia's proptech major REA Group acquired Elara Technologies in 2020 and took control of Housing.com and PropTiger.