Professional investors choose residential real estate because of its strong risk-adjusted returns profile; nevertheless, despite the fact that residential is the world’s largest asset class, deploying capital at scale is difficult.
IMMO, a London-based fintech startup that purchases homes on behalf of buy-to-let investors, has raised a $75M Series B equity funding. Oak HC/FT, a US-based venture and growth equity fund focused on healthcare and fintech, led the round, which also included Moore Specialty Credit and current investors FinTech Collective and Talis Capital.
Fund Utilisation
The funds will be used to speed the company’s expansion across Europe, including the purchase of 10,000 properties backed by $2.5B in institutional investor commitments. The total funding received is €14M.
IMMO employs a data-driven method to generate scalable residential exposure for investors, offering a digital solution for how people can sell, rent, and invest in single-family rental (SFR) housing. Its software analyses over €6B in properties every month to find investment opportunities.
Tech at play
The crew then uses the company’s own inspection app to physically evaluate selected homes, collecting over 300 data points before making an offer. The platform upcycles the properties after purchase into modernised residences that are available to inhabitants via its ‘living-as-a-service’ rental platform at cheap pricing and with a 52 percent lower carbon footprint than a full redevelopment.
“The moment has come to open up and professionalise the European residential market.” Residents demand a better rental product that is more convenient, inexpensive, and ecologically friendly. Institutions with a social conscience, on the other hand, require the scalable, low-risk investment exposure that single unit residential assets provide. Through our platform, we are offering the future of residential investing, as well as the future of living. “Redefining what people can expect from their houses is a huge duty and an incredible opportunity,” Hans-Christian Zappel, IMMO’s CEO and Co-Founder, remarked.
“In Europe, IMMO has become synonymous with SFR investments: one of the most in-demand, supply-deficient asset classes. “IMMO is leading the way in unlocking this new asset class and setting the benchmark in Europe for data-driven portfolio aggregation,” stated Dan Petrozzo, Partner at Oak HC/FT.
Founded in 2017 by Hans-Christian Zappel (Davidson Kempner, Forbes 30U30), Samantha Kempe (Blackstone) and Avinav Nigam (P&G), the company claims to have achieved 1,200% growth in the last 6 months.IMMO has teamed up with some of the world’s leading asset managers to invest in SFR in a number of European markets. This capital will fuel the growth of IMMO’s technology and operations by investing in talent acquisition in all offices globally, in addition to driving the company’s geographical expansion within its offices in London, Hamburg, Cologne, Madrid, and Delhi.
