Residently has secured £4.5 million of funding to finally “bring renting into the modern age.”
By digitizing the end-to-end customer experience in a $2 trillion market, Residently will “streamline operations for property owners and renters, reducing costs and delays throughout the full 360 rental experience.”
There are currently over 5 million rental homes in the UK, but as people seek greater flexibility, renters are “forecast to outnumber owners by 2039 (they already do in London).”
As it stands, half of all renters in the UK “are under 35, a segment that is used to seamless digital solutions providing them a high quality service on their own terms.”
The long-term home rental market is “the largest and least served segment of consumer spending, with no brand leaders.” Residently is well-placed “to change this. Backers included Love Ventures, alongside existing investors Felix Capital, LocalGlobe and A/O PropTech as well as a Seedrs crowdfund.”
Adrian Love, Partner at Love Ventures commented:
“There’s a gap in the market for a property platform that radically transforms renting, that’s also truly aligned with both renters and landlords. Tom and his team have the ambition and understanding to re-shape the customer experience for renters in ways that are long overdue. We’re excited to be working with Residently to help fund their global expansion and create a world leading home brand.”
Tom Allason, Founder at Residently commented:
“In a world where we can secure a taxi, takeaway or trip away in seconds it is nuts that we tolerate friction and uncertainty where we spend most of our time and money. We’re here to transform the experience and economics of renting. We started by digitising the rental journey, next up is solving the greatest problem with renting. Letting renters secure their next home more than a month in advance will eliminate unnecessary stress and double rent for them and costly voids for landlords. We’re delighted to have Love Ventures join our existing investors for this next stage of the journey.”
Residently’s approach to building a marketplace is to first “digitize” the rental experience and “develop a trusted relationship with renters.”
Their renting super-app “lets renters arrange viewings, take virtual tours, make offers, secure their home, pay deposits and extend or renew their lease all within one app.”
Broadband and other utilities “can be set up in advance along with helpful services like moving, storage, furniture rental, cleaning and digital locks.”
For agents and property managers, digitizing their renter’s experience “enables them to streamline operations saving them £400 per property per year while doubling their landlord’s Net Operating Income through void reduction.”
Residenty’s vision is “for a marketplace where homes can be secured months in advance with flexible leases, renter reviews and communications with prior tenants.”
Founder Tom Allason is “a serial marketplace entrepreneur, known for having founded eCourier and more recently Shutl, which sold to Royal Mail and eBay respectively.”
Tom has “brought together a world-class team to reinvent the customer experience, putting renters at the center of it, as they should be.”
Love Ventures was “founded by Adrian and Marcus Love in 2020 and its mission is to be the UK’s leading venture capital franchise at Seed-to-Series A.”
The team has “a wealth of experience in investing in early-stage FinTech, PropTech and ConsumerTech companies and predominantly consists of founders and exited entrepreneurs.”
The experience of the wider advisory panel “means they are uniquely equipped to help founders grow their businesses.”
The Fund’s advisors “have successfully exited multiple businesses between them including CyberSource, The Instant Group, Passmark Security and Skyscanner.”
The company is carbon neutral and “actively encourages its portfolio companies to work towards the same objective.”