Technology

Posted on May 21, 2018 by staff

Algorithm-powered flatmate finder secures £1.25m

Technology

Ideal Flatmate, which uses a 20-question survey to power its algorithm for finding flatmates, has closed its second round of funding, taking total investment in the company to £1.25m.

The seed round of £750,000 closed with re-investment from first round investors.

In the space of 12 months the London-based company’s valuation has increases by 200 per cent.

“This funding is a huge vote of confidence in the business and we are excited to continue building a credible alternative to help Generation Rent find their perfect flatmates,” said Tom Gatzen, one the company’s two founders.

“The last 12 months have been an incredible journey and our team have performed remarkably in shaping the product, staying close to our users and making constant improvements to the platform.

“We can’t wait to increase the speed of our growth and provide London and the UK with the flat sharing platform it deserves!”

The platform now sees 2,000 new properties uploaded each month by landlords and letting agents with rooms to fill.

It also attracts more than 150,000 visitors each month, with flathunters searching for rooms and looking to ‘buddy up’ using its matchmaking tool.

Founders Gatzen and Rob Imonikhe devised the business after becoming frustrated with inability to find similarly minded flatmates.

The founders now plan to use the investment to accelerate the company’s business plan, recruit key staff and advance its implementation of machine learning.

“The next stage of progression is an exciting one for the business as we deploy our growth strategies over the coming months. This funding round will help us continue to build a strong team and fast-track our drive to onboard more users,” said Imonikhe.

Technical advisory roles have been filled by the likes of Edd Read, co-founder and former CTO of Graze.com.

The advisory team is also being strengthened with David Pollock, founder of Greene & Co. joining the management board, Edd Read joining as technical advisor and a new lead leveloper being appointed.