Lhoopa secures $80M for affordable homes

Lhoopa, a property technology or proptech firm, on Tuesday completed raising $80 million from equity and debt instruments to help provide more affordable homes in the Philippines.

Lhoopa said the fresh funds will be used to enhance its technology systems which link over 4,000 property contractors, brokers, and agents to consumers through its mobile app. The capital infusion will also enable Lhoopa to launch financing options for eco-friendly homes.

Pivotal moment

“This funding marks a pivotal moment for Lhoopa as we scale our operations to meet the growing demand for affordable housing in Southeast Asia,” Lhoopa founder Marc-Olivier Caillot said.

Out of the $80-million funding, Lhoopa secured a total equity of $20 million from major financiers World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation and venture capitalist Wavemaker Partners with offices in Los Angeles and Singapore.

Other fund sources include Pavilion Capital, 10X Group, Concentric Equity Partners, Mirath Investments, NataRock Partners Fund, Black Kite Capital, Patamar Capital and Tekton Ventures.

Individual investors are PropertyGuru Group and Wavemaker Impact co-founder Steve Melhuish and Coins.ph co-founder Ron Hose.

Debt

The remaining $60 million came in the form of debt from the Asian Development Bank, United States International Development Finance Corporation (IFC) and Lendable. The last is based in the United Kingdom and lends to technology firms that advocate inclusive socioeconomic growth.

“With this new partnership, we hope to help close the gap in affordable housing and promote inclusive development by supporting a company that provides digital solutions to first-time homeowners and improved access to financing for low- to mid-income consumers,” IFC manager for the Philippines Jean Marc Arbogast said.

Since its establishment in 2018, Lhoopa has sold over 2,500 houses in over 58 cities in the Philippines. It targets to provide over 15,000 affordable homes over the next three years.

The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development says the Philippines has a total housing backlog of 6.5 million units.

If left unaddressed, the government agency says this could increase to 22 million by 2040.