Dubious dealings at property tech startup Strata

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Editor's note: Real estate, especially as an avenue of investment, is a tricky—yet wildly popular—industry. In India particularly, it’s an industry that is often fraught with complex regulation, booms and busts, and occasionally unscrupulous actors. (And that’s without even considering property as a black money or tax evasion channel.) In any case, the business of investing in real estate is a huge opportunity, and one that several startups have jumped on to. The usual pitch is an innovative financial structure, maybe coupled with some sort of digital platform to get tech company valuations, that allows new kinds of investments. One such startup is Strata. Founded in early 2019, the company has been backed by SAIF Partners (the venture capital fund now branded Elevation Capital) and Mayfield India and offers individual investors a chance to own and earn income from commercial real estate. We’ll get into the details of the business model later, but essentially, Strata pools in money from investors to purchase commercial properties, which it manages on their behalf, sending them rental income and possibly an exit through a sale in …