Technology

Posted on September 18, 2019 by staff

Short-term rental PropTech secures £4m

Technology

Tech platform Lavanda has secured a $5m (£4m) funding round led by the investment arm of private real estate investor Henley Investments.

Founded in 2014, the firm’s SaaS platform enables landlords and property managers to tap into legitimate short and medium-term rental demand to target markets include multifamily, build-to-rent (BTR), student housing, serviced apartment and vacation rental portfolios.

As part of the investment Justin Meissel, Henley CIO and MD Europe will join Lavanda’s board. He will sit alongside Harry Hill, founder of Rightmove, as non-executive director.

“Lavanda legitimises and institutionalises short and medium-term rental options for commercial landlords, providing a best-in-class technological solution,” said Meissel.

“As owners, operators and developers of over 10,000 residential units, Henley have first-hand exposure to the income uplift potential driven by Lavanda’s model.

“Henley Ventures is pleased to be supporting Lavanda and their top notch team as their business goes global.”

Guy Westlake, founder of Lavanda added: “Traditional hospitality, travel and real estate industries are converging fast. By providing landlords and developers with the missing technology toolkit to harness this global trend, Lavanda unlocks a new wave of innovation for residential real estate.

“The partnership with Henley and their investment into the business enables us to take a major step towards realising our vision; to become the de facto technology platform powering a compliant global short and medium-term rental ecosystem.”