Homie is a technology platform that connects applicants with real-estate agents. It was born with the mission to change the way people rent, supplying renters with the easiest and fastest way to find a place in London. This is how Venture Friends sum up their decision made back in June 2016 to invest in this London based real estate platform explained in their latest post “Why we invest in Homie”, published in medium.com.
Set to become the first real estate agent for every millennial, Homie is a prop-tech start-up modernizing the way renters find homes in London. The idea for this startup was born in 2015 when Alex, the founder of the startup, was asked by his friend who was moving from Paris to London, to organize the viewings and help him find the right flat. Ever since, this startup is combining the local renting experience with their homemade technology thusly helping every client to find their right home.
Given the technology solution on the one hand, but also the size of the rental market in London (around 4 million private tenant households in the UK and 20 months average tenancy translate in the market size of billions of pounds, as published in the article) the Greek VentureFriends saw this investment as a great opportunity. With the forecast that the rental market will grow in the next years, and the indicators showing that millennials are looking to rent a house rather than buying one (see the latest study “Generational Rent”), this Greek venture capital decided to invest undisclosed fund in this disruptive startup – Homie in June 2016.
But it is not all about the numbers. According to the VentureFriends explanation, the investment has much to do with the people behind Homie and the product, too.
“Alex impressed us for being open minded & feedback oriented entrepreneur, with the ability to build a great team”, the VentureFriends wrote in their post. Lacking a marketing department, Alex accepted Venture Firends advised on hiring a marketing expert fast, thusly enabling the startup to stand on the right trajectory.
When it comes to their product, the customer centricity, the transparency and the clear product that Homie is providing, are the qualities that made Venture Friends lay eyes on this startup and invest in it. Confirmation for these qualities are the clients reviews, who have stated that thanks to Homie they have managed to find their dream house in no time just by filling in their desired location and their budget in the Homie plartform.
All in all, the fact that a solid team is set to disrupt the real estate market in the UK using their homemade technology is what makes VentureFriends excited to be supporting them.
FYI, VentureFriends are entrepreneurial investors from Greece who love to support startups and help ideas become disruptive startups and eventually sustainable businesses. This Venture Capital is looking for great people with strong ideas in the tech sector. In their portfolio thay have more than 15 startup that they have invested in so far.