Elara Technologies rebrands to REA India

New Delhi: Elara Technologies, operator of digital real estate portals Housing.com, PropTiger.com and Makaan.com, on Monday unveiled its new brand, REA India. The brand reflects the name of parent company REA Group Ltd, a digital real estate company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia with a market cap of A$20 billion, while prominently distinguishing the local market of operation.

REA Group first invested in REA India (formerly Elara Technologies Pte Ltd) in 2017, becoming the majority 61% shareholder in 2020 with a subsidiary of US-based News Corp being the remaining substantial shareholder. News Corp is also the majority shareholder in REA Group.

REA Group CEO, Owen Wilson commented: “A key pillar of REA’s long term growth strategy is expanding into large growth markets. Our strong presence in India provides REA Group with exposure to one of the world’s most attractive economies and complements our existing footprint in Australia, Asia and North America.

“The residential real estate market in India presents enormous growth opportunities on the back of rapid digital adoption. Leveraging the combined talent and expertise of REA Group and REA India, we have an exciting roadmap, fuelled by the delivery of highly personalised consumer experiences, to become the clear number one digital real estate business in India,” concluded Mr Wilson.

Within the REA Group structure, REA India will continue to operate as a separate organisation under the leadership of Dhruv Agarwala, co-founder and CEO, along with the current leadership team.

“In the new avatar, we will solidify our position as the digital real estate platform of choice in India. The new branding will provide us with a strong brand legacy backed by cutting edge technology. We will continue to serve our consumers and customers with the same passion and expand our presence in the promising real estate market in India,” said Agarwala.

“The pandemic has elevated the market need for technology and revolutionized the manner in which consumers are finding and purchasing real estate. This quick and transformative shift has led to accelerated digital adoption and the need for digitally enabled full stack services that are core to our business strategy. Our objective is to optimize our offerings around this shift and build a more engaging and transparent platform for our user base, with support from REA Group’s team,” added Agarwala.

PropTiger.com was launched in 2011 and Makaan.com was acquired in May 2015. Housing.com, a start-up founded in 2012 by IT graduates, became part of the group in January 2017.