Strata, leading prop-tech startup crosses 500 crore AUM mark
Mumbai : Strata, India’s leading tech-enabled commercial real estate (CRE) investment platform, is the first proptech company in the country to have crossed a significant threshold of 500 crores in Assets Under Management (AUM). The company recently raised $6 million in a Series-A round co-led by Kotak Investment Advisors Limited, Gruhas Proptech (an exclusive fund by Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha & Abhijeeth Pai of Puzzolana Group), and Sabre Investments.
The company which doubled its AUM from Rs. 240 crore to Rs. 500 crore in just 9 months also witnessed a massive jump of 300% in its investor base crossing 1500+, which comprises more than 20k+ active users. The company now aims to upscale its AUM by nearly 2X to reach ₹900 crore by April 2022. The company is eyeing a host of asset classes such as industrial assets, office spaces, warehouses, data centers, hotels, hospitals, among others. The company is also eyeing sale & leaseback deals with large corporations on long-term leases.
Strata, since its inception in November 2019, has offered a suite of high quality, commercial assets such as office spaces, warehouses and industrial facilities among others. Strata funded 150+ crore worth commercial property at Hosur. It made Strata the first proptech company to fund property worth 100+ crore, which witnessed 100% investment in 35 days of listing. Owing to its data centric approach, Strata has successfully pioneered to penetrate tier-II markets such as Jaipur wherein assets have witnessed full investment in just 15 days of the listing. This very data driven approach has also enabled Strata to identify newer and high potential markets while offering superior ROI to its investors.
The assets funded are situated across cities such as Bengaluru, Hosur, Hyderabad, Mumbai etc. Earlier this year, Strata raised Rs. 34 crore for its ‘E-Zone investment opportunity’ in Mumbai. A premium office located in Goregaon, the asset received 100% commitment from investors within just 48 hours of its listing. Additionally, the company raised Rs. 47 crore for another office asset unit located in the Financial District in Hyderabad. That asset too received 100% commitment from investors within just 4 working days since its listing.
Strata has been relentlessly working towards democratising the commercial real estate investment space in the country and has funded assets across the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Rajasthan. Strata was also the first proptech platform to offer warehouse investment assets through an online platform in India. The company raised Rs. 140 crore for a consortium of three grade-A warehousing assets amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Commenting on the development, Mr. Sudarshan Lodha, Co-founder & CEO, Strata, said, “2021 has been an extremely special year for Strata as we have grown at a significant pace, adding 1 crore to our AUM everyday this calendar year, which has enabled us to double our AUM to Rs. 500 crore in just about 9 months. Being one of the pioneers in democratising CRE as an asset class in the country, Strata has been diligently working towards enhanced risk mitigation and client centricity, while offering robust returns to our investors. The milestone is extremely valuable as it is a testimonial of the unhindered faith our investors have invested in us and our transparent modus operandi. It will play an instrumental role in further strengthening our position as a trusted investment partner for both our clients and developers. We are committed to accelerating our growth journey from here while building and offering more inclusive and rewarding products for our investors.”
Through its tech-enabled platform, Strata empowers retail investors across the globe to invest in specific commercial properties in a particular location of their choice whilst offering good yields. Currently, the platform has over 20,000+ users along with an active base of more than 1,500 investors globally. Besides, it also offers a robust and trusted platform for real-estate developers all across the country to find investors for their assets. While 18% of the investor base comprises NRIs, others include HNIs, family offices, top management from Fortune 500 companies as well as UHNIs, and institutional investors.
Last year, in March 2020, the company had raised $1.5 million in seed funding co-led by Elevation Capital and Mayfield India along with participation from PropStack angel investors. Strata envisions to be the largest alternative investment platform in the country for retail investors by enabling them to invest in CRE assets—by democratising assets and offering it on an easy-to-use online platform.