HousingAnywhere raises €24 million in Series C funding and acquires Kamernet
Acquires Kamernet to strengthen its leadership in the Dutch market, as it sets sight on leadership in Europe
- HousingAnywhere has raised €24 million in Series C funding, taking the total amount raised by the company to €35.5 million.
- Proceeds are used to strengthen its position in the Netherlands and acquire Dutch player Kamernet, expand to a total of 32 cities across Europe, and continue the development of HousingAnywhere’s technology platform for the rental accommodation industry.
- HousingAnywhere is developing an advanced property management platform and is on a path to become Europe’s largest end-to-end rental accommodation marketplace by the end of 2021.
Rotterdam, 3 February 2021 - HousingAnywhere, Europe's largest rental accommodation marketplace for young professionals and international students, has raised €24 million in a Series C funding.
The new capital will be used to bring HousingAnywhere’s marketplace and service offering to 17 more Focus Cities in Europe, to a total of 32. HousingAnywhere also uses the capital to complete the acquisition of Kamernet, its fourth acquisition in a year and largest acquisition to date. HousingAnywhere’s organic expansion and M&A activity put it on a path to become Europe’s largest end-to-end online rental marketplace by the end of 2021.
The new capital was secured through a series of financing events over the past 12 months with all of HousingAnywhere’s investors participating. Ergeny Investments, a single family investment firm, joined as a new investor in January 2020 and participated in a new equity investment with current investors VNV Global and Real Web, which led the round. Early-stage investor henQ Capital sold their stake. After the first wave of the pandemic struck in March 2020, HousingAnywhere acquired new debt financing in July 2020, on the back of a strong rebound of international mobility during the Summer of 2020. In January 2021, HousingAnywhere closed the Series C by raising funds to acquire Kamernet, the Dutch market-leading classifieds website in the room, studio, and one-bedroom apartment categories. Djordy Seelmann, CEO at HousingAnywhere:
While having devastating effects on international mobility, the pandemic offered us the opportunity to further develop our product. It enabled us to improve our contribution margins and explore local rental markets while accelerating the inevitable consolidation of the market. Despite turbulent market conditions, we managed to improve our business model, solidify the confidence of our investors and attract new capital.
HousingAnywhere has taken steps to transform its rental accommodation marketplace into a full-fledged property management platform for both tenants and landlords. Seelmann:
We want to be the catalyst that pushes the rental market to the next phase. We do this by bringing new products into the market such as HousingAnywhere Payments, our payments software. These new product offerings are built on top of the nascent HousingAnywhere Platform, which we will leverage to realise our vision of turning HousingAnywhere into a super app for rental accommodation.
The acquisition of Kamernet marks HousingAnywhere’s fourth acquisition in 12 months and demonstrates the company’s strong M&A capability. After the acquisition of market leaders in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Iceland, HousingAnywhere’s VP of Marketplace and person responsible for M&A, Gianluca Valentini, doesn’t set a limit to the company’s ambitions for the future:
We are far from finished. Our M&A team is looking to acquire more rental websites, to expand in audience and number of properties that fit the needs of our ever-growing user base.
About HousingAnywhere
HousingAnywhere is Europe's largest rental accommodation marketplace, with 10 million unique visitors per year and 60,000+ properties available for rent. Young professionals and students looking to rent a home are matched with accommodation providers, ranging from private real estate owners to large-scale property managers. Through its advanced platform, tenants book for longer stays and typically rent accommodation for 3 to 12 months. The Rotterdam-based technology start-up employs 140 people. Currently, the startup is focussed on 32 key cities throughout Europe, with plans to rapidly expand its footprint.
Note for press
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