HomeMe Successfully Raises $3.2M for Expansion
CREtech Blog
Rental application HomeMe announces it has completed a successful $3.2 million second round of seed financing. The mobile app pre-approves and screens potential renters and matches them with apartments and landlords that will actually approve their application.
HomeMe launched in the Startup Battlefield at DisruptNY 2016 and operates in several Texas cities. Right now the company focuses on professionally managed rentals and newer construction. The capital will help HomeMe expand into new real estate rental markets.
"We`re going throughout Texas," said HomeMe chief executive Mark Douglas in a release. "Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio and then going up through the central U.S." In future expansion, HomeMe plans to enter the Chicago market.
Investors include Menlo Ventures--a firm that also has invested in Uber and Tumbler-- and 2M Companies, the family office of Morton H. Meyerson, and others.
"We are dedicated to working with companies that are creating something entirely new, and we see that in HomeMe," said Mark Siegel, Managing Director, Menlo Ventures. "The way HomeMe has reinvented the apartment rental experience is less stressful, more efficient and is very compelling."
HomeMe users input financial information and the application matches them with an apartment available based on their credit history and price range. The app reverses the traditional rental process that starts with finding the apartment and then applying for approval. Users search a real time database of available listings, schedule viewings, and reserve apartments all from their mobile devices.
The Los Angeles-based firm launched in Texas first after identifying it as an ideal initial market thanks to new construction projects and steady income. Douglas said the app is currently downloaded around 200 times a day for its Texas markets.
Douglas says the highly competitive rental market is due for a shakeup. Other companies trying to jump into the lucrative rental market include Nooklyn and Nestio.
Douglas co-founded HomeMe with Lindsey Holland, the VP of Marketing and property management industry veteran. Douglas is also CEO of SteelHouse and former chief technology officer at eHarmony.