EP #447 - Stefan Schärer: Building and Exiting a PropTech Startup in Switzerland

Timestamps:

3:57 - From neuportal to Houzy

10:20 - Building up new revenue streams over time

13:18 - Is Switzerland too small a market?

20:45 - Getting acquired by UBS and Baloise

32:43 - Did they make money out of the deal?

This episode was co-produced with ⁠smzh⁠, your independent go-to partner in all matters relating to finance.

About Stefan Schärer:

Stefan Schärer is the co-founder and former CEO of the proptech startup Houzy. Stefan previously founded the software company Fairgate and the real estate project management company Neubau Portal, and was briefly the CEO of Moneyhouse AG, before founding Houzy in 2017.

Houzy offers services like property search, mortgage comparison, a renovation costs check and energy efficiency optimization. In the beginning they chose not to overspend on complex marketing tools and instead worked hard to optimize their SEO, which gradually became easier as they drew more users to the platform. Stefan credits Houzy’s great marketing and product teams, as well as their smart money investors, with the success of the company. 

In 2022 UBS and Baloise acquired a joint majority stake in Houzy, and one year later Stefan stepped down from his CEO role. Nowadays he’s the President of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation. 

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