Chilean proptech startup Houm has raised $35 million in a Series A round led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Goodwater Capital, the largest VC fund focused on US consumer internet companies, and FifthWall, which has made several investments in other proptech companies. Previous investors such as OneVC, Elad Gil, Liu Jang and Fen Ventures, as well as individual investors such as DST Global’s partner Rahul Mehta also participated in the round.
With this latest round, the Chilean proptech founded in 2018 by Benjamín Labra and Nicolás Knockaert has raised more than $45 million from some major investors.
Houm offers an online service that helps homeowners rent and sell properties “up to 10 times faster” than traditional methods. Houm, or the “Uber of real estate”, specializes in direct long-term leases between landlords and tenants, with no collateral required for tenants and guaranteed payment to the landlord every month, even if the tenant does not pay. Rather than using realtors, it relies on “Houmers”, self-employed professionals who prepare properties for sale or lease, and then manage them. Houmers make money each time a home they worked on is sold or rented.
Santiago-based Houm plans to use the new capital primarily to expand into 15 new cities in Mexico, Colombia and Chile – the three countries it currently operates in – and to triple its current workforce from 350.
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