New property portal 99.co launches

SINGAPORE — Online real estate search portal 99.co, which boasts Facebook billionaire co-founder Eduardo Saverin among its investors, was officially launched today (Jan 29), mounting the latest challenge to incumbents such as PropertyGuru and iProperty even while the housing market continues to wane.

Mr Darius Cheung, co-founder and chief executive of 99.co, said at the launch: “It is a perfect timing despite the cooling property market, because demand is lower now and real estate agents will put in more effort to secure and attract potential buyers, hence generating better photos and more attractive outlook in the listings.”

“The website is currently used by thousands of agents to list property for free, and is growing by 50 per cent on a month-on-month basis since our soft launch last November,” said 99.co. The portal, which covers only residential properties for now, has subscribers from entire agencies such as DWG, M.O.R.E and SLP, as well as individual real estate agents from firms such as Knight Frank, C&H and JLL. Membership is free until July, after which a monthly fee of S$35 is required.

99.co also announced new funding with additional investments coming from venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and Mr Saverin, bringing total funding to S$2.7 million. Mr Saverin’s investment in the web portal is over a million dollars, a company official said.

99.co claims that its platform uses a special algorithm to deliver the best search results for users, allowing prospective buyers to “find the perfect home to purchase”.

Mr Mohamed Ismail, chief executive of leading real estate agency PropNex, said as a guest panellist at the launch: “We welcome forward-looking platforms. This is what the ground needs and it is good to have competition.”