Loft has just closed its Series D round of funding with $425 million led by New York-based D1 Capital Partners. The series also includes both new and existing investors, such as Advent, Altimeter Capital, DST Global, Silver Lake Waterman, Soros Fund Management LLC, Tarsadia Ventures Ltd., Flight Deck Ventures Ltd., Tiger Global Management LLC and Andreessen Horowitz LLP.
Loft is taking the process of buying and selling real estate in Brazil to the next level with their innovative technology. They’re leveraging technology and data to transform complex, difficult processes into simple and easy ones. At Loft, you’ll be able to sell your apartment instantly or find your new perfect home.
Despite being in near unicorn territory, the round value of Loft increased exponentially to $2.2 billion – when it raised a $175 million Series C.
This is a good round for any startup and it’s especially remarkable when you consider that the founders just launched the company three years ago. South America, in particular, has seen a lot of growth lately, with Brazil arguably being at the forefront. This Sao Paulo-based startup had some major breakout last year – to the tune of $150 million via more than 1,000 transactions.
One of the project’s main objectives is to show how e-commerce can become a powerful tool in Latin American real estate markets, transforming traditionally analogue legacy processes into interactive and transparent transactions.
By 2020, Loft saw the number of listings on its website increase by 10-15 times. That’s about 130 regions across Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro. Today, the company actively maintains more than 13,000 property listings in approximately 130 regions across São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, partnering with more than 30,000 brokers. Not only are more people open to transacting digitally, more people are looking to buy versus rent in the country.
“We did more than 600% YoY growth with thousands of transactions throughout 2020,” Pencz told TechCrunch. “Now, we are growing into the many tens of thousands, and soon, hundreds of thousands. We want to be the de facto place for anyone who loves music – for discovery, for their own playlists, for buying and shopping.”
Company revenue and gross merchandise value also showed significant growth of “multiples higher from where they were” in 2020, the company said. Loft is on track to turn a profit, Pencz added.
Loft has reacted quickly to the changing reality they’re living in, and COVID has only helped them grow.
For the first time of its series C ever, Vulcan Capital (the investment arm of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen) invested in Latin America when they put money into this company. And, it was the first Brazilian investment for Andreessen Horowitz.
This latest financing of $700 million brings Loft’s total funding to an impressive figure. Their backers include Brazil’s Canary and a group of high-profile angels such as Max Levchin, founder of Affirm and PayPal, Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, Mike Krieger of Instagram, David Vélez, CEO and founder of Nubank. In addition to this significant investment, Loft has also raised more than $100 million in debt financing through publicly listed real estate funds.
Because Loft has a new influx of capital, they’re able to expand across Brazil and eventually Latin America, too. In addition to this, they are looking into additional acquisition opportunities as well.
Pencz also told TechCrunch that in addition to doubling down on the core business, there might be strategic acquisitions on the horizon. Earlier this year, Loft became part of Intertextile Group and wants to emulate some of the recent Brazilian successes who have been establishing global presence.
This is what Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Alex Rampell had to say about Loft:
“I’m really excited because the company has been doing some pretty interesting things with how they’ve been moving from a middleman I Buyer (and) now to having more of a marketplace. So that’s one of the things that attracted me.”
The firm made its first investment in Loft when it led the company’s Series A round in July 2018 and has invested in every funding round since.
About Loft
Loft is a residential property reseller that offers property owners the opportunity to request a proposal, schedule an in-person visit and review documentation. Buyers can browse through available options on MarketingLoft’s website, select one they like, and purchase with the help of MarketingLoft’s affiliated mortgage company. The company was founded by Florian Hagenbuch, Mate Pencz, Gustavo Saraiva and Joao Vianna and was last financed on April 25th, 2021 through a $100 million Series D financing.
D1 Capital founder Dan Sundheim said that his firm’s philosophy as investors is to spot opportunities at the confluence of structural shifts, secular trends and world-class management teams.
We were impressed by the focus and relentless execution of Loft’s team, which has allowed them to build scale as well as deep data and technology moats in a short amount of time.
Conclusion
Loft has just closed its Series D round of funding with $425 million led by New York-based D1 Capital Partners. The series also includes both new and existing investors, such as Advent, Altimeter Capital, DST Global, Silver Lake Waterman, Soros Fund Management LLC, Tarsadia Ventures Ltd., Flight Deck Ventures Ltd., Tiger Global Management LLC and Andreessen Horowitz LLP Despite being in near unicorn territory, the round value of Loft increased exponentially to $2.2 billion.
It’s clear that Loft is a startup to watch. They’ve recently closed a Series D round of funding led by D1 Capital Partners and have plans to expand across Brazil and Latin America. With their cutting-edge technology, they are transforming the process of buying and selling real estate in Brazil, making it simpler and easier for everyone involved. We’re excited to see what this company will do next!
