Proptech firm Levitate makes its debut in Vietnam

Singapore-headquartered housing development platform Levitate has made Vietnam its debut market, giving consumers in the country more creative input when buying their own home.

The start-up business has two operational design hubs, one each in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Marc Townsend, a Levitate co-founder and former CEO of real estate services company CBRE Vietnam, said Thursday.

Fabian Wandt, another Levitate co-founder and former chief operating officer at Lazada Vietnam, said: “The platform helps deliver a fully personalized home to fit buyers' budget, requirements and style. Buyers get matched and can then design and finance their new dream home.”

Vietnam is Levitate’s first market because the country’s property market is still standing despite the pandemic, said Wandt, who has been living in Vietnam for 11 years.

Before housing projects are constructed, prospective buyers can choose, change and re-arrange things like the color and style of the sofa, the tiles, and the floor plan as they want, and the platform will help with this.

In addition, Levitate's online-to-offline sales service allows buyers to virtually fine tune their dream home.

“Through our two design hubs, we ensure the gap between this virtual and the real world is bridged in a smoothly orchestrated sales journey,” said Townsend, another long-term expatriate in Vietnam.

In the Vietnamese market, the startup is working with some banks in order to help work out tailor-made finance packages for buyers. However, the firm did not disclose the bank names because negotiations are in process.

Levitate is also joining hands with Hodeco, a leading real estate developer in the beach town of Vung Tau, about two hours’ drive from HCMC, to launch southern Vietnam's $200 Antares Beach Vung Tau. The 5-star resort community will be a destination for second-home buyers and travelers alike. Levitate is also a distributor for the project, which is its first contract in Vietnam.

In the pipeline are five more projects, the executives said, without divulging more details.