Startup Mantra: Navigo is revolutionising real estate presentations, sales

Picture this. You have your life’s savings and are looking to put that down to buy a home. Most likely with EMIs to chase you for the rest of your life. You search for the best your money can buy and land up to inspect what may swallow up all your savings. You are shown a flat that’s all beautifully done up and as your head starts floating in the clouds at the thought of getting the flat the salesman interrupts you with “You will receive a shell, not this.”

Ajjay Parge, founder and director of Pune-based Qubit, says, “Home buying in India is an emotional decision for nearly every family. If a buyer feels emotionally connected to a property, they are more likely to decide to purchase it. Unfortunately, in the real estate industry, especially for upcoming projects, we never show the customer their home.”

He says, “Sometimes, the show flat is a left-wing apartment, while the buyer is interested in a right-wing one. In such cases, they are asked to visualise everything as if it were mirrored. Everyone who has purchased property has likely encountered this kind of situation. This often leaves the customer feeling uncertain. Even after deciding to purchase a particular property, they frequently visit the site once the RCC structure is completed to check if their decision was the right one. Not fair.”

Problem area

According to Ajjay, realty developers typically use static walkthrough films of their future projects. “These are excellent marketing materials to attract potential customers, whether by displaying images of the future project on hoardings or showcasing walkthrough films in AV rooms to mesmerise them. However, when it’s time for a customer to actually make a decision, they often sit with a sales executive and a printed brochure. Nowadays, some developers use touch screens, but again, these are used to display static 2D brochures where customers can zoom in or out on images, with little more to offer.

“We identified a substantial gap in the process. When a sales executive begins explaining a project using a printed brochure, they leave the customer to rely on their own visualisation about 90% of the time,” he says.

For example, the executive might say, “This is a 4BHK apartment in building B, on the 7th floor, overlooking the garden.” The customer must imagine all of this by looking at 2D static images. The challenge is that they are making a critical decision without fully understanding the product. In the real estate industry, most property purchasing decisions are made either based on gut feelings, relationships with developers, or simply FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).

The solution

Ajjay was in any case helping real estate developers with 3D renderings of their projects. He decided that no customer should have to rely on imagination whilst buying a home. How the sunlight would enter your flat at 8 am or at 6pm.

“The latitude and longitude of any project is known. We integrated real time sunlight into our software to enable this. In fact, you can get a view of any flat from anywhere. Inside, outside, left, right, stand anywhere and get an idea of how it will look. We even included Vastu readings. First time buyers are generally not so finicky about Vastu, but as the ticket size goes up people become more conscious of Vastu.”

After spending ₹10 lakh and six months, Ajjay was ready with his 3D tool Navigo. “What helped us actually is the Covid-19 period. Before that people would at best buy shampoos from an Amazon, but during Covid and even after, people became very careful about visiting on-site projects. Which in turn helped digital adoption by developers and customers alike.”

To market, to market

Getting customers has not been too tough for Ajjay largely because he has been serving the realty industry over the past few decades. But his plan is to target the luxury segment that he sees is rapidly expanding. “The luxury residential real estate market is currently valued at $38 billion and is projected to grow to $102 billion by 2029. This sector is expanding rapidly, driven by increasing demand for high-end, well-designed properties with cutting-edge amenities. Our tool, Navigo, is perfectly positioned to cater to this market, as it provides buyers with the clarity and confidence needed when making such significant investment decisions.”

“To tap into this market, we are strategically targeting Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, where the demand for luxury real estate is growing at a fast pace. We plan to partner with leading developers and real estate firms in these cities, offering Navigo as a key sales tool to enhance the buying experience and help buyers make more informed decisions. By showcasing Navigo in top-tier real estate projects, we aim to establish it as a standard in luxury property sales.”

Reap benefits

Based on the past experience that Navigo has had, Ajjay says “We have seen sales increase three to four times and cancellations drop to just 1%. This is because the buyer can see what he will get, it is almost as good as getting into a flat. He can check the views from the balcony, the bedroom, kitchen, understand how the furniture will look if placed in different places and much more. The result is they are more sure whilst seeing it on Navigo and the salesman is more confident of showing the flat to the prospective buyer.”

Ajjay says this is the first-of-its-kind tool available in India. “We have filed for a patent and are awaiting it.” While he does admit that there are others who offer 3D renditions, they’re based on gaming principles and that cannot work for a home buyer. With Navigo, we have a touch screen and the salesperson will take the buyers through the flat in 3D.”

Fundraising

While Ajjay has already recovered the ₹10 lakh invested and has had a revenue of ₹10 crore, he aims to raise ₹50 crore which will help him sharpen Navigo. “We have to make improvements, hire more people and spend on marketing, to begin with in Tier 1 and 2 cities and then all over the country.”

India and the world beckon Navigo.