Romanian and Belgian investors launch new online real estate platform

A group of Romanian and Belgian investors specialized in e-commerce and IT development have invested EUR 500,000 in a new real estate platform dedicated to both individual and business clients. The new platform called Wizmo.ro targets property owners, real estate agencies and property developers, but also individuals and companies that are looking for property or land for rent or sale. “To kick off this investment, we have carefully analyzed the potential of the real estate market, and we’ve noticed an upward trend in the country’s major cities, especially in the residential and office segments,” said Belgian entrepreneur Maarten Deboo, CEO Wizmo.ro. The platform aims to reach 100,000 listings in the first three months, on the residential, commercial, office, industrial, and agriculture segments, according to Deboo. Most of the ads are to be posted in the residential section, especially as the number of searches for apartments for rent is expected to increase in the summer-autumn period. On Wizmo.ro, the owners can create an account and post an ad for free. The users can easily access the property’s details, and can navigate on the platform from both computers and mobile devices. "Another benefit of the new platform is the system of reviews, through which customers can give feedback about the quality of the agencies’ services, a unique tool on the market, through which we hope to bring more transparency to the end customers who can say their opinion,” said Maarten Deboo. The platform also includes a messaging platform. Moreover, in the coming months, the real estate agencies get to test the platform free of charge. Wizmo.ro has been launched nationwide, but it currently works in the Beta version. The main competitors in the real estate online classifieds segment are imobiliare.ro, which has recently been bough by Swiss media group Ringier, anuntul.ro, and olx.ro. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com