The problem was almost as old as the modern Real Estate management system, so André Penha and Gabriel Braga, who met at Stanford, decided to change it and seek a solution to the complaints of the country’s inhabitants. This is how they created Quinto Andar in 2013, a proptech that, despite bringing a totally new idea to the market based on technology, hit the nail on the head.
It took them six years, but they made it. They became a unicorn with a $250 million series D round that is currently worth more than $5 billion and just exported their idea to Mexico under the Benvi brand.
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The figures speak well about the company’s performance, however, its origins go back much further than the ‘boom’ in the use of technology and the birth of startups specialized in the real estate sector, so the beginnings were complex.
“It was very difficult, to be honest, because we brought something very new. We were the first company in the world to do it, so we had no other reference that it worked, so it was difficult to raise capital”, explained Gabriel Braga, CEO of the company.
Neither of them had the resources to be their own investors, nor their family or friends, so they had to start with maturing investors until in 2015 they raised their first round led by Kaszek. Three years later the amounts began to be more substantial. Currently, some of the funds that have bet on the business are SoftGank, Ribbit Capital, Dragoneer and Atlantic.
Last year, with 300 million dollars from a series E, they decided to expand their operations to Mexico. The decision, says Gabriel Braga, is based on the size of the country’s real estate market and its similarities with Brazil.
“We come with the same humility that we had at the beginning of QuintoAndar, to learn everything again, to understand the market and the clients, but also with the reputation, structure and solidity that we can bring to the people. We are no longer the startup with good intentions, we already have proof of the business”, adds the co-founder.