Democratising CRE Investment
The demand for commercial real estate (CRE) has increased as a result of the booming economy. Driven by the nation’s promising growth story and lucrative opportunities, institutional investors have pumped in $1.6 billion in India’s commercial real estate segment in the second quarter of 2023, as per a report by commercial real estate consultant Vestian.
Building on the institutional investors’ unwavering confidence in India’s potential, Priyanka Rathore, Co-founder and COO, Strata Property has sought to introduce commercial real estate an alternative asset class and make it more accessible and affordable for the common man with a ticket size of Rs 25 lakh.
Founded in 2019 by Sudarshan Lodha, an experienced legal counsel in the real estate industry and Rathore, a real-estate and financial analyst, Strata Property is a tech-enabled real estate investment platform that allows investors to own and sell fractions of pre-leased, grade-A commercial properties including office spaces, warehouses, industrial assets, etc.
A Game Changer
With more than Rs 920 crore in AUM (assets under management) and more than 40,000 users, Strata is touted to be one of India's leading platforms for fractional ownership in commercial real estate.
Explaining further Rathore says, “Strata aims to democratise CRE, making it accessible to a much larger investor base, as well as bringing transparency and simplicity to CRE investments with its single window platform to invest in assets across the nation.”
The company is backed by institutional investors such as Kotak Investment Advisors, Gruhas Proptech, Sabre Investments Elevation Capital, Mayfield and PropStack.
Partnerships & Plans
In January 2023, Strata raised Rs 76 crore for a 39,000 sq. ft office asset situated in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
At the beginning of July 2023, it partnered with India Land and Global Group. Through this partnership, Strata plans to raise over Rs 150 crore in phase 1 for a grade-A office asset in Pune’s Hinjewadi.
This strategic partnership will enhance Strata’s presence across Maharashtra and Southern India in the coming year.
The Road Ahead
Given the pace of its business growth, Strata is well on its way to achieve the target that it set for itself this fiscal year -- increasing its AUM by 50 per cent to Rs 1,500 crore.
Summing up her plans for the immediate future, Rathore says, “Since inception, we have done more than Rs 1,000 crore AUM and we plan to increase it by Rs 800-1,000 crore AUM this fiscal year. Beyond our current wide presence in southern India, we plan to expand our footprints in western and northern India.”
The proptech startup is now also looking to expand to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in a year and a half. Strata which has so far raised $7.5 million in two rounds of funding, is also exploring a new set of investors.
