Technology

Posted on August 29, 2019 by staff

PropTech Residently raises £7m to ‘fill gap in rental market’

Technology

UK PropTech start-up Residently, has secured £7m in seed investment to help fund its growth in London and New York.

The London firm is building a global ‘rental platform’, which allows renters to search for properties, arrange viewings, take virtual tours, pay deposits and submit reference checks through their phone.

The funding will be used to grow the start-up’s engineering and product teams, support building the rental portfolio in London and New York, and add extra services to Residently’s Living platform.

Investment comes from leading European VCs including Felix Capital, LocalGlobe and A/O PropTech, as well as existing angel investors.

The company hopes to offer renters an ‘all-in-one’ platform by guaranteeing broadband installation before arrival, offering flexible move- in dates, and setting up utilities.

The firm said it also offers moving and storage services, furniture rental, cleaning services and digital locks, all of which can be manage via the company’s app.

Founder and CEO Tom Allason said he wanted to design a rental experience around tenants, after frustrations with his own renting experiences in several countries.

“We are building the global rental brand by using tech to offer flexibility and smart services to renters,” Allason explained.

“We put them first because by improving the experience for renters, we positively disrupt the economic model for property investors and owners – enabling them to maximise their yield with minimum hassle.”

Residently app also works for landlords, by offering a property management service for viewings, paperwork, property maintenance and renewals.

The firm said it hopes to style and furnish every property on its app to help potential renters visualise exactly how their home could look, which it claims would be an industry first.

Its landlord-specific features will be available from September, the firm said.

Antoine Nussenbaum, partner at investor Felix Capital said there was a gap in the rental property market for Residently.

“[Founder and CEO] Tom and his team have both the tech, the experience and the passion to disrupt the industry in ways that are long overdue and we’re excited to be working with Residently to create a world leading rental brand and help expand this unique service to even more cities across the globe.”

Gregory Dewerpe, partner at investost A/O PropTech, said: “Residently is creating a brand and a new market, helping both tenants and landlords converge towards a seamless, digitised and more transparent journey, creating a new need for a powerful ecosystem and platform. We are thrilled to be part of this journey as an investor and a strategic partner.”