A Spanish proptech firm has secured US$518 million to advance its ibuying operations.
Clickalia, which was formed in 2018 by Alister Moreno and Pablo Fernandez, said this latest investment will provide it with access to more than 250,000 residential properties.
Los Angeles-based venture capital firm Fifth Wall drove the equity financing, which included Luxor Capital and Mouro Capital. Deutsche Bank also provided more than $440 million in debt financing.
Fifth Wall is also an investor in Opendoor as well as Loft, a Latin American real estate tech unicorn.
Despite its recent, much-publicised troubles, the ‘iBuyer’ business model has proved to be popular in Europe. Clickalia has purchased more than 1,800 properties and employs 600 people, It has also acquired a property management company to further expand its operations.
Currently, Clikalia will provide property sellers with an offer within 24-hours, and if accepted a sale within just seven days. According to the company it will renovate the home and re-market with the goal of using digital solutions to achieve a faster sale.
Miguel Nigorra, Partner and Head of Europe for Fifth Wall, said his firm was impressed by the founding team, which had a previous successful exit as well as the market opportunity, as well as the company’s “amazing” unit economics and metrics “compared to many other companies in the market.”
He said: “The Spanish market is one of the largest markets in Europe when it comes to residential real estate — with the equivalent of over 300,000 transactions per year.”
“It’s a massive market, and the process of selling a home in Europe and Spain specifically is extraordinarily time consuming, expensive and inconvenient.”
We’re excited about the technology angle Clikalia is bringing to a very old fashioned vertical in the real estate market.”