Residently, a British proptech startup aiming to streamline rents, has closed a £7 million ($8.5m) seed funding round—and will use the cash to grow its digital team and property portfolio.
The London company, founded in 2017 by transatlantic trio Noemi Staehelin, Sam Phillips and Tom Allason, aims to “digitize” the rental experience by covering all stages via an app, from viewing and paying monthly rents, to Internet and other overheads.
The cash injection, which comes from LocalGlobe, Felix Capital and A/O PropTech, and a number of existing angel investors, will help Residently scale its engineering team and offer a suite of new user features including cleaning and storage.
Residently currently has offices in London, New York and Manchester, and owns properties in the former two. Co-founder and CEO Allason says this week’s funding will give a chance to increase that portfolio—and continue disrupting rental markets whose value soars in the U.K. and U.S.
“We are building the global rental brand by using tech to offer flexibility and smart services to renters,” wrote Allason. “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 maximize their yield with minimum hassle.”
This year has seen a surge in funding awarded to proptech startups. Berlin’s McMakler won a €50m ($55m) round this June—despite the city government’s announcement it plans to freeze rent increases.
Finnish AI-powered venture Kodit won a $15m round the same month, while Los Angeles-based proptech investor Fifth Wall raised an eyebrow-raising $500m last month, heralding a heavyweight race for command of a global industry already winning over $20bn in VC investment, according to several sources.