United Kingdom-based proptech company Lavanda has raised $7.25 million to further develop its flexible rental platform that optimizes occupancy and revenue for residential apartment blocks.
European proptech and fintech venture capital firm Finch Capital led the round, with participation from U.S.-based Starwood Capital via European venture partner Concrete VC.
Founded in 2015, Lavanda’s property management software allows owners and operators of residential apartment buildings to tap into short- and medium-term rentals alongside conventional long-term tenancies.
Through its technology and data, Lavanda optimizes and automates building configuration, revenue management, distribution and marketing of accommodation inventory, attracting and retaining renters and the design of hospitality experiences.
“Rental demand has seen a fundamental shift. As people become increasingly familiar with the ease and experience of booking a home through Airbnb, they come to expect the same when renting their primary residence. To date that’s just not been possible due to archaic leasing structures and a lack of enabling technology,” says Aman Ghei, partner at Finch Capital.
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“The Lavanda team have cleverly identified this gap and developed a new software layer that makes it easy for institutional landlords to boost yields by renting their inventory by the day, week, month or year in line with their business strategy. As a consequence, traditional residential operators are now able to design and build sustainable, next-generation hospitality brands that are better able to capitalize on emerging market trends, generating huge incremental value for real estate funds and portfolios.”
In September 2021, Lavanda partnered with real estate services provider JLL to launch a short-term rental platform in the U.K.
Five months later, it entered the Middle East in collaboration with Aldar, a UAE real estate developer and manager.
Lavanda raised a previous $5 million round in 2019.