Metaverse is Square Yards Major Bet for GCC Property Market

Square Yards, one of India’s foremost real estate platforms, is investing in the Metaverse for shoring up its presence in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region. Square Yards was founded in 2014 and expanded later to Dubai in 2015, further expanding to other parts of the Middle East, including Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia over the years. The platform initially enabled property deals in the region for NRI buyers and investors, later venturing into the off-plan category and catering to both natives of the region and foreigners as well. 

Square Yards has already set up its Metaverse platform in August for the Dubai market, thereby enabling better visualization for users and walk-arounds of built property areas through AI, 3D, AR, VR, and other advanced technologies. Its proprietary AI technology, according to Kanika Gupta Shori, the Co-Founder at Square Yards, helps in taking photogrammetry data and satellite images as its inputs, before the conversion of urban landscapes into 3D for a more immersive experience. She further highlights how the Middle East and Dubai in particular, are setting the foundation for widespread adoption of the Metaverse globally, while being in the throes of a revolution in the space. 

Square Yards, while deploying investments in the Metaverse for the GCC region, is also looking at exploring the same for other key markets including India, Australia, and Canada. Square Yards enables more than 2,000 transactions per year in the Middle East, through its platform,  taking on players like Aldar, Husky, Deyaar, Property Finder, Nakheel Properties, and the Emerging Markets Property Group. Square Yards feels that its experience in the Indian market along with the UAE’s preference for organized players have been key elements in its journey so far. 

Kanika Gupta Shori also states how Square Yards wishes to set up an entire value chain encompassing every stage of the process including search and discovery, home loans, transactions, rentals, interiors, and post-sales services, along with property management, which is organized. Square Yards charges brokerage/transaction fees from developers which is a percentage of the sale consideration. It also offers home loans, loans against properties, and personal loans along with business loans. Revenues are derived from transaction fees charged to the financial institutions as percentages of the total insurance premiums or loan disbursal values. It also offers home interior and renovation services. 

The company was founded in 2014 by Tanuj Shori and Kanika Gupta Shori who realized how the realty market in India mainly had unorganized players, according to the latter. She further states how India in 2014 was a unorganized market worth $120 billion without any regulator, distributor, or transparency in data. She also states how they  realized how the entire procedure was completely broken. They decided to tackle these gaps in the industry and Square Yards was formed as a result, with its headquarters at Gurugram. The company has a presence in 20+ cities spanning India, Australia, the Middle East, and Canada, with 7,500+ employees in nine countries. It has a global GTV (gross transaction value) exceeding $3 billion, with more than $80 million in its ARR (annualized revenue run rate) and 6.5 million+ monthly visitors on its website. Square Yards also enables 25,000+ property transactions on an annual basis, with 500+ global partnerships with real estate developers and 2 lakh+ agents, in addition to 100+ banks and NBFCs. Square Yards has reportedly raised funding of $97.8 million till date.