ZipMatch today concluded a successful press conference with startup incubator IdeaSpace Foundation at Conti’s restaurant in Greenbelt 2, Makati City.
In attendance were ZipMatch CEO and co-founder John Dang, vice-president for sales and business development Chow Paredes, and chief technology officer Kyle Wiltshire.
During the event, ZipMatch announced that it has recently closed a deal for strategic partnership with BPI Family Bank, enabling home-loan applications to be part of its property search process and will set to boost the current portfolio of services that ZipMatch is offering.
Under the strategic partnership, ZipMatch is integrating home loan application into its services. BPI Family Bank, on the other hand, will benefit from better-validated customer applications to speed up the pre-approval process.
Already ZipMatch is offering a full concierge service to walk clients through the home search and buying process on top of its well-curated selection of properties and various online tools. The site features a mortgage calculator and a blog with news and advice to help buyers keep abreast with what’s happening in the industry.
ZipMatch’s entry into the Philippine real estate market comes at a fitting time with property sector analysts expecting continued acceleration in real estate investments in the country beyond 2014. Real estate was one of the key contributors to economic growth in 2013.
ZipMatch cofounder John Dang said,
While there are more customers now starting their home buying experience by searching for properties online, the industry is still traditional. Even property websites and online classified ads are only driven mostly by advertising revenues with numerous listings that can overwhelm the customer. We’re seeking to professionalize and make this business more efficient through a combination of digital and personalized customer service.”
More than just a property listings site, ZipMatch functions much like a comprehensive online community of licensed brokers, sellers, buyers, property developers, and even banks and other financial institutions.
ZipMatch co-founder Chow Paredes mentioned that many homebuyers are still undecided and not exactly know what they are looking for. She stressed,
Most of the time they don’t know that a residential project is set to rise in, say, Brgy. Kapitolyo in Pasig City, which is perfect for them as they prefer to be near top schools and the Ortigas Center at the same time. This is where our concierge service helps, as it narrows down their search. With our recent partnership, home loan application will be part of an integrated process.”
Kyle Wiltshire, IT Director for ZipMatch also said that the company aims to provide solutions to the long-standing challenges in the real estate industry.
With ZipMatch, we’re trying to create a set of solutions that can apply to the Philippine setting and other emerging markets and in the process help create an online real estate environment that’s comprehensive, efficient, and risk-free,”
The startup was formed in April last year. In February this year, ZipMatch was able to raise its first seed funding round from a group of world-class investors led by IMJ Fenox and including 500 Startups, IdeaSpace Foundation, Inc., and Hatchd Digital.
Koichi Saito, General Manager of IMJ Fenox, said:
ZipMatch, as the only online real estate marketplace in the Philippines, is operating in an extremely alluring and growing space. Sixty-eight percent of the Filipino population is below the age of 35, and as more people become tech-savvy, the demand for online property search is increasing rapidly.”
As venture partner Khailee Ng of 500 Startups also said,
We’re always looking for the next big success story in each country, and we see this with ZipMatch.”
Earl Martin Valencia, IdeaSpace president and co-founder, said:
We hope that with ZipMatch, more Filipinos will get the right help and information when they purchase the homes that they work so hard to save up for.”
