Ideal Flatmate closes funding round of £1.1m

by Startacus Admin

Flat sharing platform plans further business growth bolstered by latest investment

More good news on the investment front with the announcement that ideal flatmate, the UK’s first algorithm based flatmate matchmaker has closed its latest funding round with total Seed funding now passing the £2m mark.

The platform is based on an algorithm similar to that of dating websites and rather than just looking at location and budget, it prioritises how well matched prospective flat-sharers are in regards to personalities.

The startup’s founders, Tom Gatzen and Rob Imonikhe came up with the idea following years of becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of options for finding flatmates, after searching through current listing websites.

“There are more than 3m flatsharers in the UK but for decades they have been mostly neglected by innovations in consumer tech,” said Imonikhe. “We are at the forefront of changing this; ideal flatmate is working with some of the most innovative tech providers in the world to make the process of finding, booking and renting shared accommodation safer, faster and more satisfying than ever.”

This additional funding will now allow them to continue the business’ growth across the UK and further develop its tech solutions for the growing Build to Rent market. They are also set to announce a number of new partnerships in the coming months as the business develops its product to serve its flathunter and landlord users. These include the ability to conduct a credit check via the platform and sign a tenancy agreement online.

ideal flatmate has also onboarded the largest number of Build to Rent developers as clients of any flatsharing platform in the UK and as the sector continues its rapid expansion following government backing, the business is in a perfect position to capitalise on these relationships.

The latest funding round has been made up of existing investors such as David Pollock, founder of Greene & Co and Peter Roberts, founder of Pure Gym, as well as new angel investors such as Robin Tombs, founder of Gamesys and Yoti.

Gatzen said, “We are delighted to have secured the backing of our existing shareholders and a range of new investors as part of our largest funding round to date. This is an exciting time in the rental market in the UK, with a great deal of institutional backing being put into the Build to Rent sector, and ideal flatmate is in pole position to take advantage of this growth!”

Since its launch in 2017 the site has reached an average of 500,000 monthly users, more than 150,000 people have registered as a flathunter on the site and over 80,000 properties have been listed.

Impressive stats already and we look forward to seeing what successes this latest investment will bring!

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Published on: 20th November 2019