Fast Lane Ventures, a Western business incubator operating in Moscow, announced earlier this week the launch of Domgeo.ru, an online database of real estate available for purchase or rent.
Domgeo’s properties come from as many as 50 agents and developers who have agreed to list their properties on the site on a pay-per-inclusion basis, the company told EWDN. Domgeo also hopes to generate significant revenues from advertising.
A number of sites already offer property listings on the Russian market, including Nesprosta.ru and Gdeetotdom.ru as well as CIAN, a poorly designed yet popular online database focused on the Moscow rental market. Generic classifieds sites such as Avito.ru and IRR.ru include strong real estate sections.
Domdot.ru, a technologically advanced site launched in 2008 by reputed spy Anna Chapman, closed in 2010.
To differentiate itself, Domgeo works exclusively with agents and developers and frequently moderates the offerings. “One of the main problems connected with searching online for real estate in Russia is the fact that databases are cluttered with irrelevant advertisements,” Domgeo CEO Alexey Kosachev explained.
Among the site’s features is an advanced ‘Search by geography’ tool. Users can outline a random section of any size on a virtual map of Russia and see all properties for sale or rent within the area.
Western expertise on Russian turf
Domgeo claims its database already comprises 50,000 real estate listings across Russia. For the moment, however, the site shows little results for regional queries. “Our initial focus is Moscow and the Moscow region, but we will offer a Russia-wide service and will start to promote property in the regions before the end of the year,” said Domgeo business development director Carlo Walther in an exchange with East-West Digital News.
Walther is a British online real estate expert who spent five years at Rightmove, a UK property portal which went public in 2006.
The market for real estate advertising in Russia is worth more than $900 million, but the proportion spent online is currently less than 10%, Fast Lane reports.
Fast Lane Ventures was founded in Moscow last year by two Western businessmen, French serial entrepreneur Pascal Clément and KupiVIP.ru founder Oskar Hartmann.
The incubator claims it brings projects from the idea stage to completion in a mere “50 days.” Among its recent projects are Jizo.ru, a metasearch engine for air tickets, Upladder.ru, an online premium job search service, and VitaPortal.ru, a medical news site inspired by the WebMD.com model.
