Exor and Intesa back Italian 'proptech' firm Casavo

360 Capital

19/07/2022 13:12

MILAN, July 19 (Reuters) - Italian digital property firm
Casavo said it had raised 400 million euros ($410 million) in
capital and debt in a financing round backed by the Agnelli
family's holding company Exor  EXOR.MI  and the country's top
bank Intesa Sanpaolo  ISP.MI .
    Founded in 2017 in Milan, Casavo initially offered 'instant
buying' services to people wanting to sell their homes,
acquiring properties which it would then renovate and resell.
    Over time it has expanded to become a digital marketplace
connecting buyers to real estate agencies and developing side
servicers for homebuyers such as mortgage lending, or striking
partnerships with suppliers of household goods. 
    Casavo said Exor had led its fourth financing round, worth
100 million euros, adding it represented the biggest investment
in the 'proptech' sector in Europe so far.
    Casavo declined to say how much the company was valued at in
the capital raising, only saying it was more than double the
figure of the previous financing round in March 2021.
    Back then U.S. private capital markets research and data
firm PitchBook pegged Casavo's valuation at $194 million.
    Casavo has also secured 300 million euros in credit lines
from a numbers of lenders including Intesa Sanpaolo.
    Exor first invested in Casavo last year. The latest round
saw the participation of all of Casavo's other main shareholders
such as San Francisco-based Greenoaks, Italy's 360 Capital,
Munich-based Picus Capital and Spain's Bonsai Partners.
    "We're happy to strengthen our relation with Exor after
their initial investment last year and to welcome our new
investors," Casavo founder Giorgio Tinacci said in a statement.
    The new investors include Intesa Sanpaolo's Neva SGR unit,
London-based Hambro Perks and Fuse Ventures Partners, as well as
Sébastien de Lafond, founder of French rival MeilleursAgents, as
an angel investor, Casavo said.
  ($1 = 0.9748 euros)

 (Reporting by Valentina Za
Editing by Keith Weir)
 ((valentina.za@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 6612 9526;))