New Delhi, September 13, 2018: FastFox.com, India’s leading AI driven home rental marketplace, has on-boarded Mike DelPrete as its ‘Strategic Advisor’. Mike has himself incepted, invested in, and scaled multiple business ventures in the real estate tech domain and is a go-to person for founders and executives of tech-based real estate start-ups, across the globe.
Speaking on the recent appointment, FastFox CEO Pallav Pandey said, “Within a very brief period of time, FastFox has emerged as an innovation-driven leader in the online home rental industry. We’ve effectively proven that conventional approach is neither effective, nor convenient for the customer and have completely transformed the consumer journey by eliminating frictions in the customer experience. Now, we are leaving no stone unturned to retain this leadership position and would like to both congratulate and thank Mike for joining FastFox as its Strategic Advisor. His credentials speak at length on his behalf and we are confident that his experience will be of substantial value in FastFox’s national prominence.”
FastFox is a cutting-edge home rental startup that works on a revolutionary AI-based ‘Open House’ model. As part of this model, the company first handpicks the best rental homes for its customers based on their profile and preferences. It then enables them to visit these Open Houses at the designated time frames and check if it meets their needs without pushy brokers. Since the launch of Open House eight months ago, the platform has grown 4X, a consistent 20% month-on-month, powering 100s of transactions every month. FastFox commands a 5% market share of rental transactions in the fragmented Gurgaon market, accounting for a Gross Contract Value (GCV) run rate of $24 million – by far the highest across the nation.
Mike DelPrete, Strategic Advisor, FastFox said, “I’m thrilled to be working with Pallav and the entire team at FastFox. I’ve analysed hundreds of new models in real estate globally, and the FastFox model is surely the winning one: smartly combining people and technology to provide a better rental experience. I’m looking forward to invest my experience and expertise for helping the business grow and have a real impact in the Indian market.”
Mike is internationally recognized as an expert and thought-leader in real estate tech. He works with the world’s largest investors as well as operators within the industry and advises a select high-growth startups. His association with FastFox as a Strategic Advisor is by far the first in the Indian real estate market. He is also a scholar-in-residence, real estate tech, at the University of Colorado Boulder. Previously, Mike was a former tech entrepreneur, CEO, and head of strategy at a major real estate portal.
Talking about the potential of tech-driven real estate market of India, Mike said, “Over the long run, I expect the Indian market to grow quite strongly. But it will be a non-linear path, unlike what we’ve seen in other Western markets. The winning models need to be designed specifically for the Indian consumer, so it’s not simply copying and pasting other models into the market. And that’s also why I like FastFox. It’s taking the best ingredients from overseas models and adapting them according to the Indian market. It will be a long journey, but I’m encouraged by the strong traction so far and what the future holds.”
