Propi, the Salvadoran proptech seeking to democratize the real estate market in Central America, closed a US$4.2 million seed round to expand its digital real estate transaction platform in underserved markets in Latin America.
The operation had the participation of regional real estate and financial institutions, Family Offices, a Venture Capital fund, and Second Century Ventures, a Chicago-based fund focused on real estate technology.
The company founded in 2022 by José Mario Ávila and Eduardo Francés, leaders of the investment and expansion processes in Hugo App, a delivery platform acquired by the multinational Delivery Hero. Their bet was to develop an end-to-end real estate super app for an industry that, until then, operated almost entirely with manual processes and without digitalization.
Propi: From property search to complete transaction
Propi integrates property search, reservations, contract signing, down payment, digital compliance and bank disbursement support, all from a single platform. Its database includes around US$4 billion in historic residential inventory between new developments, resale properties and rental homes, available in El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama.
One of its most relevant findings: more than half of those who buy properties through the platform are Central Americans living abroad, which opened an opportunity to connect Latin Americans with the real estate market in their country of origin, even through a virtual assistant via WhatsApp.
Regional expansion with an eye on new markets
Currently, Propi operates in El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama, markets where the construction sector is going through a cycle of sustained growth, especially in residential housing.
With the resources from this round, the proptech plans to enter Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, and also delve deeper into the digitalization of mortgage loans and prequalifications that connect buyers with banks. In parallel, the company is evaluating a fourth market for its regional expansion, with Ecuador and Venezuela on the radar.
“We are also evaluating one more market in Latin America. We are going to monitor how the entire panorama is developing in Venezuela, which I also believe is a market that has great potential,” said José Mario Ávila, CEO and co-founder. Thus, the startup consolidates its vision of becoming the digital benchmark for the real estate sector throughout the region.
