idealista (yes, in lower case, as the company itself writes it), is undoubtedly one of the benchmarks in the real estate sector in our country. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Madrid, Spain, idealista supports approximately 40,000 real estate agents and 38 million monthly unique visitors in southern Europe by providing an online classifieds marketplace for home buyers and sellers. In addition, idealista’s online mortgage brokerage, data analytics and CRM tools make it a key destination for prospective homeowners and sellers in Spain, Italy and Portugal.
Since its idealistic growth, it has not stopped growing, defining a trajectory in which they have had to face the real estate bubble, the crisis, the subsequent economic recovery and the COVID crisis.
But how did this company come about? One of its founders,
His brother Jesus Encinar He returned to Spain after spending a season in the United States. The discovery of sales and rental services through the Internet in the American country, and the need to create a similar portal in Spain at that time it was what led them to create a website that would help people find a home.
For months he was thinking about how he would do it and who he would choose to accompany him on the adventure. Finally, the Encinar brothers, together with their other partner Cesar Oteizato embark on this story with its own name that is almost two decades old.
Story of Idealista: A Rocky Start in the Prehistory of the Internet
We are talking about the year 2000, the year in which idealista was founded. Let’s put ourselves in a situation: , there are no , not to mention smartphones, Wi-Fi…
In this almost hostile and prehistoric environment of the Internet, the three partners undertook their project with a clear objective: bring to Spain something that did not exist until then, and facilitate the process of searching for an address for its users (until then in our country the only way to do it was through real estate agencies, on the street, and through press advertisements).
The portal started that year only in Madrid, and went through some tough times. So one of its founders: «one of the most difficult moments, in 2002, when the survival of the company depended on a phone call in which our shareholders at that time, which were two savings banks, one Basque (BBK) and the other Catalan (Caixa Catalunya), told us whether or not they would grant us a loan participatory. Fortunately, the answer was yes and we were able to reach profitability in January 2003″.
Since then, the results have always been positive for the company, and it has become a benchmark in its sector.
Sale of idealista: a milestone in the history of the Spanish digital sector
In September 2020 the Swedish fund TEQ announced the purchase of idealista by 1,321 million euros, which represents the largest operation in the Spanish digital sector in its entire history, well above (500 million euros). As EQT explained in an, idealista’s management team, led by its founder and CEO Jesus Encinar, will continue to lead the company, “Building on its strong track record of growth and innovation.”
Through this operation, EQT took control of 80% of the company’s shares, which were in the hands of the investment firm since 2015, when he entered the capital of idealista. At that time, idealista was valued at about €235 million.
EQT Partners is a global investment company with more than €62 billion in capital and €40 billion in assets under management in 19 funds. EQT participates in companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific, the US and Canada that generate more than 27,000 million euros per year and create more than 159,000 jobs. EQT collaborates with its investees to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.
Story of idealista: success of an innovative model
In addition to surviving different stages in its almost 20 years, as we mentioned above, it has managed to make the leap abroad: the platform is currently available in Spanish but also in Portuguese, German, English, French or Italian, with presence in Spain, Italy and Portugal.
The history of idealista is undoubtedly a success story. They went from including photos on the platform to being the first to add virtual tours and videos in ads. From the web to the adaptation for mobile devices with a responsive design. And they can boast of being pioneers by creating a cutting-edge feature in real estate: the option to draw where you want to live.
Currently, both Fernando and Jesús Encinar have become indisputable references within the Spanish real estate scene. Ferdinand who in them the only permanent thing is change: «We constantly live on the edge of the following and many things have changed so that the essence does not change: we want to end the anxiety and frustration of finding a home».
Is that the secret of its success?
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