By Aluisio Alves
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian online housing broker QuintoAndar has raised $250 million in a new funding round led by Japan's SoftBank Group International, the company said on Tuesday.
The broker has been valued at more than $1 billion in this funding round, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
Besides SoftBank, which launched a $5 billion Latin America fund in March, San Francisco-based Dragoneer Investment Group is investing in the company. Existing partners General Atlantic LLC and Kaszek have also joined this fourth-funding round.
QuintoAndar said in a statement that the proceeds will be used to expand geographically and accelerate growth through partnerships with real estate agencies.
Chief Executive Officer and founder Gabriel Braga told Reuters in an interview that QuintoAndar is considering expanding abroad, but declined to name the countries it might be eyeing.
Founded in 2013, QuintoAndar is a rental platform that does not require tenants to provide a guarantor, a standard requirement in Brazil even for renters with good credit histories.
QuintoAndar has been securing roughly 4,500 new rental contracts per month, five times higher than in 2018.
(Reporting by Aluisio Alves; Writing by Carolina Mandl; Editing by Dan Grebler)
