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99acres Success Story
In a world full of hectic schedules people really do not have time to go outside to search for homes or properties. Or maybe if a family is shifting from Mumbai to Pune, it is not an easy task to find a home in the new city. But things are not this difficult these days. Thanks to the real estate property search portals. One of the leading property search portals that lakhs of Indians rely on is 99acres.com. Here is the story of 99acres.com, India's No.1 Property Portal.
99acres - Company Highlights
- Startup Name-99acres
- Headquarters-Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Sector-Real Estate
- Founder-Sanjeev Bikhchandani
- Founded -2005
- Parent Organization-Info Edge
- Website-99acres.com
99acres - About
99acres.com was founded in 2005 by Sanjeev Bhikhchandani, a Padmashri award-winner entrepreneur. Today 99 acres is a leading real estate search portal of India, which assists you in buying, selling, and renting real estate properties. 99acres.com is not just about finding and advertising residential properties, you can also find and list commercial properties, upcoming real estate projects, PGs, and co-working and co-living spaces via 99acres.com. You can also find dealers in a given area through the website.
Logo, 99acres
99acres is the subsidiary of Info Edge. Other than 99acres.com, Info Edge is also the parent company of other popular businesses like Naukri.com, naukrigulf.com, Firstnaukri.com, AmbitionBox, and jobhai.com.
99acres.com - Founder
Sanjeev Bikhchandani
Sanjeev Bikhchandani is a renowned name in the Indian Business community. Born in 1964 in Delhi, Bikhchandani is an Economics graduate and alumni of IIM Ahmedabad. Bikhchandani, from a young age, had a bent towards entrepreneurship and tried his hands in various small businesses. Naukri.com India's pioneer job search portal is the brainchild of Sanjeev Bikhchandani. The Naukri.com idea was developed by Bikhchandani while he was working out of a small servant quarter above a garage. The seed capital for starting Naukri.com was just Rs 2000. Later Naukri.com went on to become the first dot-com company to be listed on the Indian stock exchange. Besides 99acres.com and naukri.com, Sanjeev Bhikchandani is the mind behind popular sites like siksha.com, naukrigulf.com, and jeevansathi.com. Bikhchandani was awarded the prestigious Padmashri award in 2020. He has received many rewards and recognition for his contribution to the Indian economy and business.
99acres - Business Model & Revenue Model
The business model of 99acres is very simple. 99acres.com connects real estate buyers and sellers, house owners, and tenants. Sellers, house owners, and property dealers can list their real estate properties, post pictures of their property, and find interested buyers and tenants. While a limited number of listings is free on 99acres.com, once the limit is over, one needs to pay for the listing.
99acres.com's primary sources of revenue are -
- property listing charges
- subscription fees
- charges for marketing real estate properties, new real estate projects on the 99acres.com website
- Charges for Ads on Website
- Charges for promoting and featuring builders and dealers on the website
99acres - Competitors
The top competitors of 99acres.com are MagicBricks, Housing.com, and IndiaProperty.
MagicBricks
It is the top competitor of the company 99acres. The company is headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India, and was founded in 2006.
Housing.com
It is seen as one of the top competitors of 99acres. The company is headquartered at Gurgaon, Haryana, India, and was founded in 2012.
IndiaProperty
IndiaProperty is headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, and was founded in 2006.
99acres - Growth
99acres.com is performing well and has contributed a huge chunk to the growth of its parent company Info Edge. In quarter II of 2019, Info Edge's revenue jumped to Rs ₹316.6 crores from ₹265 crores, which was the revenue in the 2nd quarter of 2018. This jump in revenue was supported by 99acres.com's 20% growth in revenue and billing in the same quarter.
However in January 2020, in an interview given to ETNOW, Hitesh Oberoi, the MD, and CEO of Info Edge India Ltd said that 99acres.com's growth is declining due to the slowdown of the real estate market. But he expected the things to turn for better in a year or two.
Further, the real estate segment also suffered due to the Covid induced Lockdown, which resulted in a decline in revenue for 99acres.com. In the Q4 of Fy 2020, 99acres.com's billings fell by 24% Y-0-Y to INR 50.7 Cr from INR 66.7 Cr. Revenue for Q4 of FY 2020 increased by 3.6% Y-o-Y to INR 56.4 Cr. Q4 EBITDA is INR 2.2 Cr.
On an annual basis, billing and revenue for Fy 2020 increased by 3.5% and 18.8% respectively. Thus billing for FY 2020 is INR 213.9 Cr and revenue for FY 2020 is INR 228 Cr. EBITDA for FY 2020 is INR 8.4 Cr.
Traffic to 99acres.com that declined to single-digit due to the Lockdown, is now slowly bouncing up.
99acres - FAQs
Who is the owner of 99acres?
Sanjeev Bikhchandani is the founder/owner of 99acres.com.
Is 99acres Free?
A limited number of listings is free in 99acres. 99acres is completely free for property searchers.
Is 99acres Profitable?
In Q1 of Fy 2020, 99acres posted a Rs 3.4 Crore Loss before Tax. In Q1 of FY 2019, 99acres reported Rs 12.86 Crore Loss before Tax.