Online real estate firm QuikrHomes has acquired digitally-driven home rental solutions provider Grabhouse to launch cashless rental solutions. The move comes at a time when the nation is struggling with shortage of cash post the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

The company aims to address an acute pain point in India’s real estate market by providing cashless solutions. Founded in July 2013, Grabhouse offers end-to-end digital solutions for the rental needs of both owners and tenants. The platform offers a managed rental homes model which comprises of a range of fully furnished, ready-to-move-in apartments across four major cities. “We are very excited about the launch of our managed rentals model – it brings convenience to consumers while eliminating cash from property rentals, and we are excited to start it with the acquisition of Grabhouse,” said Atul Tewari, COO, Quikr.

“Our business here will also benefit from unique competitive advantages as the Grabhouse target market has a great match with many of our other businesses such as C2C and bikes. On the cost side, the operational costs of the business will directly get shared with our services business,” he added. Grabhouse will continue operations as an independent brand for managed rental homes. As part of the overall integration process, its founders and entire team will move to the Quikr HQ.

“At Grabhouse we’ve laid the foundation of a sound cashless business model for house rentals. We foresee massive business opportunity now, as joining forces with Quikr means scaling quickly to build not just a long term rentals brand but also enter other new territories,” said Prateek Shukla and Pankhuri Shrivastava, Founders of Grabhouse. The company has so far received a funding of USD 13 million from investors such as Kalaari and Sequoia Capital.

Source: Money Control

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