This infusion of capital into Lhoopa is the biggest funding round by a startup in the Philippines to date. 

Lhoopa, a startup that is utilizing technology to revolutionize affordable housing, announced that it has successfully completed its latest funding round with $80 million. Funding was led by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Wavemaker Partners. According to CB Insights, this is the biggest funding round by a startup in the Philippines to date, with the investment set to drive future expansion in the Philippine housing market.

Of the $80 million, $20 million came in the form of equity, co-led by the World Bank’s IFC and Wavemaker Partners. Also participating were Pavilion Capital, 10X Group, and Concentric Equity Partners (CEP).

This equity round facilitated a further $60 million worth of debt facilities for Lhoopa from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and Lendable.

Raising this unprecedented amount at such an early stage is a significant milestone for Lhoopa, and it signals the strength and promise of Lhoopa’s business. The startup has been leveraging technology to enable large-scale development of affordable homes in the Philippines since 2018.

Funding to Drive Expansion in the Philippines

Lhoopa aims to use the funding to drive expansion in the Philippines and other emerging markets.

According to Marc-Olivier Caillot, Founder of Lhoopa, “This funding marks a pivotal moment for Lhoopa as we scale our operations to meet the growing demand for affordable housing in Southeast Asia. Our dream is to create a much needed paradigm shift in real estate. Toward this end, as a proptech, our unique model of leveraging technology and local partnerships allows us to deliver quality, affordable homes quickly and efficiently. With the support of our investors and financing partners, we are poised to make a significant impact on the affordable housing market and improve the lives of countless deserving families.”

The company aims to strengthen its technology capabilities to better support its partners as well as hire more executives, senior managers and product developers.

In a statement, Sabrina Tan, President and Co-Founder of Lhoopa, said, “Our mission is to solve the problem of affordable housing and provide access and opportunities for financial growth to local partners, and this funding will enable us to accelerate our efforts.”

Lhoopa has, to date, sold over 2,500 affordable houses in more than 58 cities in the Philippines. It aims to sell 15,000 affordable homes over the next three years.

Closing the Affordable Housing Gap

Lhoopa’s strategic equity investors underlined the value the company provides. 

Paul Santos, Managing Partner at Wavemaker Partners, emphasized the housing backlog in the Philippines. He said, “Affordable housing is not typically seen as a venture play, but we believe Lhoopa is solving a long-standing problem that will only worsen unless it is addressed. Currently, the Philippines has an affordable housing backlog of over 6.5 million, projected to reach 22 million by 2040. Lhoopa is demonstrating that with boldness, innovation, and differentiated execution, affordable housing can be both profitable and impactful.”

This latest funding round is about closing the gap in affordable housing, and empowering Lhoopa to accomplish its ambitious goals of revolutionizing affordable housing across Southeast Asia.

Jean-Marc Arbogast, Country Manager for the Philippines at IFC said, “With this new partnership, we hope to help close the gap in affordable housing and promote inclusive development by supporting a company that provides digital solutions to first-time homeowners and improved access to financing for low- to mid-income consumers.”