Proving that renting an apartment or home is a pain no matter where you are in the world, London-based Goodlord announced this morning it has raised about $13 million.
Latitude Ventures led the investment which also included participation from Dutch early-stage venture capital firm Finch Capital and London-based firm Oxx. The funding brings Goodlord’s total raised since its 2014 inception to about $33 million.
The news is especially meaningful considering the company saw its CEO depart and laid off nearly 40 employees just over two years ago, according to TechCrunch.
Co-founder Tom Mundy started the company in 2014 after becoming frustrated with the inefficiencies in the tenancy process. William Reeve (co-founder of LOVEFiLM, founding director of another proptech company, Zoopla) took the helm as CEO in early 2018.
Goodlord’s SaaS (software as a service) platform aims to make the rental process smoother and more efficient for landlords, leasing agents and renters alike. It handles a wide range of services from contracts to references to payments.
In its own words, Goodlord’s mission is to make renting simple and transparent for everyone involved.
The company certainly seems to have rebounded since that turbulence two years ago. COO Mundy said Goodlord has seen “the number of tenancies it processes” accelerate from about 20 percent to more than 90 percent year over year in 2019. Without providing specifics, Goodlord said its number of users doubled over the last year. Meanwhile, headcount more than doubled to 97 from about 47 a year ago. The company declined to comment on annual recurring revenue.
Over the past year, Goodlord has introduced new products and platform updates. It also has expanded its service to cover corporate lets, brought in extended insurance provisions and introduced virtual banking technology for customers.
Looking ahead
Goodlord plans to use its new capital to double its client base and expand its suite of products. It also plans to hire more engineering, product and customer-facing staff.
Julian Rowe from Latitude Ventures, who is joining the Goodlord board, said in a written statement that the startup has the potential to be “one of the UK’s most successful property technology companies.
“For many people under the age of 40 the rental market is the housing market and Goodlord is passionate about modernising it for millions of people,” he added. “By creating software that increases the professionalism of letting agents and reduces the stress of finding and securing a home to rent, Goodlord is supplying an essential service to meet a key need.”
