The startup, led by founder Jonathan Lui, has raised S$2.75 million (US$2 million) to date

In a small and competitive real estate market that is being fought over by two rival property marketplaces 99.co and PropertyGuru, Singapore-based startup Soho believes it can have a slice of the pie by offering a larger suite of tools.

Describing itself as the ‘LinkedIn’ for the real estate market (meaning that just like not all users on LinkedIn are hunting for jobs, not all properties on Soho are currently on the market), Soho offers homeowners and real estate agents to list properties.

It also provides management tools that allow them to track important property documents such as their financials, and investment data such as capital gains, yields, and strata fees.

Additionally platorm facilitates ease of communication by allowing homeowners and real estate agents to chat with buyers and renters via a real-time chat tool. For renters, there are tools that allow them to pay for rental bonds and other fees online.

All properties are free-to-list on the Soho.

For its solution, Soho, which was founded by Jonathan Lui, who co-founded Australian startup Airtasker in 2012, bagged a funding of S$1.71 million (US$1.3 million) today from Australia-based fund Bridgelane Capital.

This brings its total funding to date to S$2.75 million (US$2 million). Its previous investors includes Hub Ventures Fund, an early-stage investment company launched by Impact Hub Singapore.

Also Read: Blockchain-based energy startup ELECTRIFY raises US$30M funding

It will use the newly-raised capital to growth of the company’s headquarters in Singapore; it will double the size of its software development team, who will work on integrating Soho’s platform with existing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, making it easier for property agents to come onboard.

The startup is currently in Singapore and Australia and has seen more than 10,000 downloads since its launch, with over 5,000 properties and listings added to the platform worth over S$3.5 billion (US$2.7 billion).

Property agents from major companies such as ERA, Propnex and Huttons in Singapore, and Ray White, McGrath and Harcourts in Australia, have registered on the platform.

“We’re seeing solid support for Soho as it’s not only free to list, but also has capabilities well beyond just the transaction itself. Our view is that the classifieds pay-to-list business model will phase out over the next 5 years, and we will see significant changes to the online property searching experience,” said Lui, in an official press release.

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Image Credit: Soho

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