Spotahome (company)
Spotahome is an online platform for medium to long-term apartments and room rentals in 19 cities in Europe and the Middle East.
History
The start-up was founded by partners Bryan McEire (Costa Rica), Hugo Monteiro (Portugal), Bruno Bianchi (Argentina, Italy) and Alejandro Artacho (Spain), four real estate entrepreneurs who decided to create a residential rental platform -more than 30 days-, with services intended for tenants to view the property online via video and photographic content only. It was launched on March 5, 2014, and in two hours closed its first rental.
Spotahome won the top prize at the South Summit 2016 , and the Bully Awards prize for European innovation in 2017.
Investment
After several rounds of investment in 2015, with the support of Howzat Partners (first investors of Trivago), Passion Capital and business angels from London and Silicon Valley, in April 2016 Spotahome closed its first Series A round led by Seaya Ventures (Spanish investors in Cabify, Ticketea, Glovo) along with previous investors Passion Capital and Howzat Partners and business angels such as Apostolos Apostolakis, Tim Hart, Modara Technologies and Samos Investments.
Current investors: Passion Capital, Seaya Ventures, HOWZAT Partners, Samaipata Ventures, Arthur Kosten, Nordic Makers, Jon Uriarte and Ander Michelena, Gate 93 Ventures, Mexico Ventures, Apostolos Apostolakis, Charlotte Street Capital, Samos Investments and Modara Technologies.
Characteristics
- When an owner decides to rent out a property, a person from the team referred to as a Home Checker visits the property to take photographs, create videos, floor plans and all relevant details.
- The tenant searches for the property of his/her interest, makes the reservation online and pays the first month of rent plus a commission in advance.
- The owner receives the reservation request, which includes all relevant information AbOUT the interested party, and has 12 hours to accept or reject the request. If he/she accepts, the platform pays the owner the first month of rent, less a commission of between 3 and 6%. Spotahome offer every landlord and tenant who works with them a guarantee included in the commission.
Spotahome offers properties in the following cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia, Granada, Seville, London, Dublin , Dubai, Rome, Milan, Bologna, Florence, Turin, Paris, Lyon, Brussels, Berlin and Vienna. It has more than 200 employees and more than 40,000 properties registered for rent.
The website is available in five languages: English, Spanish, Italian, French, and German.
Spotahome is a member of the European Tech Alliance, EUColab (European Forum of Collaborative Economy) and the Spanish Startups Association.