Catcha Group-backed rental platform Instahome launches with 7-figure investment

Patrick Grove, group CEO and co-founder of Catcha Group, along with Eric Tan, Grove's former chief of staff at Catcha Group, have launched a Malaysian home rental platform known as Instahome. Grove (pictured left) is the company's co-founder and investor while Tan leads Instahome as CEO and co-founder. Development work for Instahome started in August this year and the company was founded a month later.

The idea for Instahome came about after months of research and survey found that renting a home in Malaysia could turn out a very frustrating process for renters across the country. According to Instahome, most renting experiences are plagued by fake and/or inaccurate listings, misleading photos and a cumbersome and overly-manual process. Duplicate listings are also an issue for renters, because landlords normally work with a few agents to search for tenants for the same rental properties. As such, Instahome looks to leverage the use of design and technology to help renters dramatically improve home rental experience for tenants, agents and landlords.

Grove was the chairman and co-founder of iProperty Group which was later acquired by Rupert Murdoch's REA Group for US$532 million in 2015. Meanwhile, besides being Grove's former chief of staff, Tan was also previously a founder of another Catcha-backed live-streaming app, VIP Live in Indonesia, and previously head of Southeast Asia at London-based mobile app analytics start-up Reflection.io.

Meanwhile, James Birchall leads the 20-man marketing team which is still actively hiring for positions such as content marketing and performance marketing. In a statement to A+M, Instahome's spokesperson said Catcha Group, Tan and early founding employees invested an approximately seven-figure sum to establish Instahome. The company is currently actively partnering with agents and have reached out to them on social media. With the launch of the new site, Instahome aims to connect to renters' current experiences and showcase how it can make for a smoother and more enjoyable one. While it is currently not working with any agencies, the spokesperson said Instahome is open to partnering with them.

Key features of Instahome include 3D virtual tours, HD photos, online rentals without the hassle of paperwork, scheduling home visits on the platform, and paying rent on time for rewards redemption and the building of a credit profile. It targets young students, professionals and families and according to the spokesperson, competes against any platforms that renteres currently use to look for properties. They include property classified sites such as PropertyGuru and iProperty, general classifieds such as Mudah and social media groups and pages.

"We are aiming to hit 450 transactions per month by the end of the first year. We are launching in Klang Valley now as this is where our solution is best to solve. Once we are established, we do plan to expand to other states in Malaysia, such as Johor Bahru and Penang," the spokesperson added. Instahome is not content with merely remaining in Malaysia. Instead, it plans to expand into other Southeast Asian countries in the next three years.

"As a team of frustrated renters, we asked ourselves ‘What is the dream renting experience?’ and we realised that the world of renting has not caught up with the times," Tan said. Hence, the team sets out to create a better and new way to rent a home. "On Instahome, we personally visit and check all of our homes before listing them on our platform - no more filtering through hundreds of fake, inaccurate and poor-quality listings," Tan added.

Additionally, Grove said he is extremely excited to launch Instahome with an extremely passionate and talented founding team. "Except for online property classifieds, the real estate industry has largely remained the same in the last 20 years. With our operating experience in iProperty, extensive industry network and personal frustration on the problem, we are very convinced that Instahome is the future of home rental," he added.

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