#Asia In Pics: Diwali celebrations at online realty startup NoBroker

The realty portal was in the news last year after its Bangalore office came under attack from dozens of people — allegedly real estate brokers its model has edged out

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Among the scores of online realty startups in India, brokerage-free portal NoBroker is probably a name that people remember the most. The startup was in the news in September last year after a group of 40 to 50 people, allegedly brokers, vandalised its Bangalore office. As per a statement by the startup, the assailants gathered and tried to forcefully enter the office premises with the intent of damaging property, battering employees and disrupting work.

NoBroker has come a long way forward since this episode; it was actually a blessing in disguise, as the company got some new customers and raised some significant amount of funding from top names in the VC industry. This included an investment by Anand Chandrasekaran, an active angel investor and former Chief Product Officer at Indian e-commerce major Snapdeal, in September this year.

This was preceded by a US$10 million in Series B round led by BEENEXT and Digital Garage, with participation from BEENOS, Qualgro and Mamoru Taniya of Asuka holdings, aside from existing investor SAIF Partners.

Also Read: Why you need NoBroker to find your dream house

Launched in March 2014 by IIM Ahmedabad and IIT graduates, NoBroker is a property search portal that connects flat owners and tenants directly with each other, thus eliminating middlemen in the process. Angel-funded by Saurabh Garg (Co-founder of Four Fountains De-stress Spa), the startup had also raised US$3 million in a Series A round of funding from SAIF Partners and Fulcrum Ventures in 2015.

The company had a colourful Diwali celebrations at its Bangalore office. Here are some pics from the celebration.

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