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Airtasker cofounder Jonathan Lui disrupts the $13B online real estate market with Soho
- Published November 25, 2019 12:00AM UTC
- Publisher Wholesale Investor
- Categories Company Updates
Soho is the LinkedIn of Real Estate disrupting the billion-dollar online real estate industry and founded by an experienced entrepreneur who also cofounded Airtasker.
With 600% growth in traffic and passing 500,000 properties listed on the platform since launch, Soho is evolving the expensive pay-to-list classifieds industry by merging the best elements of a free listing marketplace with social networking.
Soho Investment Highlights
Problem
The online real estate experience is one dimensional and listing properties for sale or rent is incredibly expensive. Soho solves this problem by not only having a free to list marketplace but by also adding a social network aspect, allowing property seekers to connect with experts in the industry and stay up to date with market insights and trends being posted to the news feeds.
Market Size
Online real estate is a lucrative $14B industry serving a $7T residential real estate market. Approaching 70% listing market share in Australia within 2 years of launch, Soho is creating the largest online network for real estate far more lucrative than a paid classifieds website by building online profiles of buyers, investors, owners and renters as well as a nationwide network of agent profiles.
Positioning
Soho has quickly become the #1 Proptech startup to watch as a disruptor of online platforms such as Realestate.com.au and Domain.com.au. Strong momentum has built up with the rise of Soho including direct industry partnerships with national brands such as McGrath, PRD Nationwide and The Agency.
Revenue Model
Soho is a freemium model with the ability for agents to list properties and post market updates into the platform for free, whilst having the option to upgrade to premium subscriptions for data, lead generation, advertising and more.
Competitive Advantage
Soho is able to rapidly acquire content into the platform via direct partnerships with real estate brands, with CRMs and by syndicating content from agents that are being distributed through non-targeted channels like email newsletters or social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook. With a network of already over 40,000 property seekers and $2B of registered buyers, agents are able to tap into the network in multiple ways beyond just paid-listing websites.
Milestones
- Over 500,000 properties listed on Soho since launch
- Over 7,000 agents directly connected to Soho via their CRMs
- Lifetime value of a customer has already grown over $1,600 per subscriber
- Over 1000 match swipes per day on new ‘Tinder for real estate’ product
Team
Jonathan Lui is the founder and CEO who has founded several startups in the prior 10 years such as Airtasker.com, Tank Stream Labs and Tank Stream Ventures. Having raised over $90M across his ventures he is now focused on disrupting the billion dollar real estate industry that has not evolved since the disruption of printed newspaper classifieds by online real estate websites.
Strategic Partnerships
- Financial partner – Uno Home Loans (Westpac owned mortgage broker)
- Data Partner – Ripehouse Advisory
- Industry Partners – McGrath (ASX listed), PRD Nationwide and The Agency (ASX listed)
Exit Strategy
Partial exits at growth investment rounds and an IPO is the intended route in order to raise capital for International growth as well as competitor acquisition.
About Soho
Investment offering is $1M SAFE note @20% discount (85% has currently already been subscribed)
Soho is the ‘LinkedIn of Real Estate’ The new way to discover properties, connect with local area experts and get real-time market insights. Soho combines all the best elements of an online property marketplace and a social network, merged into an improved property discovery experience.
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