Houst is one of the biggest short-let management companies in the world. It partners with homeowners and advertises their properties on platforms like Airbnb, HomeAway Booking.com, and Expedia. It uses technology to help manage bookings, cleaning, guest communication, laundry, pricing, and a host of other services. Houst manages 6,000+ homes across 22 cities in the UK. In 2019, they raised £1.25 million on Seedrs. It has also acquired over 250 homes in Lisbon and Barcelona, and 200 homes in Madrid with the aim of increasing its presence across Europe. Since launching in 2015, Houst has managed over 250,000 guest bookings. The investment will help the company kickstart after the COVID-19 pandemic.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£2,622,684
A hybrid estate agent offering customers to book appointments online, or meet in person to discuss housing and property. Howard Cundey Live launched 50 years ago and allows customers to manage, sell, or let their properties online, anytime. The company has become a market leader in core locations within the UK; holding a 23% share of lettings, as well as 7% of property sales in certain areas.
Howard Cundey Live currently manages around 400 properties for landlords, this has resulted in gross monthly income of £120k between July and September 2018. They have also valued more than 100 properties for sales or lettings and 45% of customers agreed to follow the company's instructions. Revenue is generated via a seller's fee starting from £599, as well as a success fee averaging £2,500 per property that has been sold or let.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£50,230
Howsy is an online marketplace for renting. Howsy does away with traditional over-priced and under-serviced lettings model, bringing down the cost of managing a property by an estimated 75%. Their team of 81, operate across three locations—two in the UK and one in South East Asia. The company has also been featured in publications such as Forbes and The Guardian as well as portals such as TechCityNews and Startups.co.uk. The company will use the investment to build a digital service that makes renting easier, qualify for the 'Future Fund', a government support package for start-ups, and towards building working capital and growth marketing.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£2,346,770
Howsy is a property management app that aims to make renting a satisfactory experience for landlords and tenants. The company claims to have created a digital ecosystem that removes traditional agents, bringing down the cost of managing a property by an estimated 75% and delivering satisfactory customer service. Howsy has 7,000 properties on its platform mixed between recurring revenue and one-off customers. It has also acquired two of the largest online agents in the UK, Upad and Happy Tenant Company, in December 2019 and September 2020, respectively. Howsy asserts that it has achieved a 130% year-on-year revenue growth despite the COVID-19 pandemic and has featured in press entities like Forbes, The Guardian, TechCityNews, and Startups.co.uk, amongst others. It will use the investment for working capital allocation across marketing, general/admin, and technology. It will also use the funds to provide a stable runway to its Series A funding round, which it hopes to complete by January 2022.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£824,280
Ideal flatmate is an innovative platform that matches compatible flatmates with flatsharers using a sophisticated algorithm and recommending the most suitable flatmates based on answers. In just two years, ideal flatmate has become one of the flagship flatsharing sites in the UK, recently received 300,000+ site sessions, 9,000+ flatmate registrations and 10,000+ new property listings in a month. The company is working with the largest Co-living/BTR property developers as paying clients. The funds will be used on marketing, technical development/product improvement and towards hiring a world-class team.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£999,149
iHuman Fitness Ltd brings the gym into the 21st century. The company offers fitness classes that move away from conventional gyming methods – big room with lots of people and perspiration – instead downsizing it into compact, personal training sessions where people interact with instructors on a human level. Sessions are a maximum of five, meaning a low ratio of participants to instructors.
The company established its flagship gym in St. John’s Wood in May 2014. Since then it has grown to run 8 classes a day with 371 members. Along with its pop-up gym in Canary Wharf, which has attracted 100’s of people through its doors since opening in Summer 2015, the company is currently making sales of £7,560.
With £80,000 investment for 10% of the business, iHuman Fitness will open a second permanent location in Canary Wharf – to be called The Office – with its pop-up site proving that there is a market for its popular take on fitness in the area.
All going well, a third branch will open in Liverpool street by the end of 2016, and with all three sites bringing in business, by the end of 2018, the company expects to make total revenues of £1,876,700.
The idea for iHuman was born from a rather somber chain of events. Owner Mohamed El-Kadey was only young when he suffered the loss his father to a heart attack. At the age of 26 he realised his own health was taking a downward spiral and feared he might suffer the same health issues as his late dad. This prompted him to re-evaluate his health and fitness, taking on a variety of fitness challenges including the London 2010, Berlin 2011, and Paris 2013 marathons as well as taking a new approach to nutrition.
He decided he wanted to help people benefit from health and fitness – much in the same way he has in an attempt to prevent ill health for as many people as he could reach. This led to the opening of the first of his gym’s in 2014, offering small scale fitness classes that enable participants to actually learn about health and nutrition on a personal basis from instructors.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£13,320
Iknowa is a property improvement marketplace that connects and matches property owners with individuals or companies who provide property services. The company aims to be the go-to support platform for all building and renovation projects. Iknowa allows users to post jobs free of cost on its portal. The company has featured in publications like FinTech, Business Money and Showhouse. They have successfully raised over £250,000 to date. Iknowa will use 50% of the investment to maintain, improve & build new technology by the first quarter of 2021, 30% as operational costs, and 20% for sales and marketing.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£196,240
Infabode is a platform that aims to update users with news on the real estate industry information around the globe. It has over 40,000 users and 900 content partners on its portal. The company aims to benefit users by being the most accurate portal for real estate data in the world, and content providers by increasing the reach of their insights and brand. In 2020, Infabode partnered with real estate portal, Cherre, for continued expansion into the US. The company also raised £250,000 from existing and new investors, matched by the Government's future fund, in July 2020. Infabode was shortlisted for EG's Real Estate Digital Outstanding Achievement Award. The company will use the investment to get the business to breakeven by Q2 2021. It will also explore a larger Series A funding and/or a corporate sale, both of which were being considered, pre-COVID-19.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£291,000
INSPHERE uses image sensors and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to guide and correct robot positioning during the manufacturing process, ensuring right-first-time production. The company argues that industrial robots are not completely accurate and can experience unplanned downtime that can cost up to £10,000 per minute. INSPHERE asserts that its solution allows factory operators to operate safely with less downtime, and with multiple robot and human operators. The company has developed three products since 2013 which have received recognition in the aerospace and industrial automation sectors. INSPHERE is now launching IONA, a network of sensors that can be permanently deployed in a manufacturing environment to monitor and control industrial robots. IONA, the company points out, uses both hardware and software to correct errors taking into account the robot and its relationship to the workpiece. INSPHERE will use the investment to diversify the reach of IONA across markets.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,149,999
ISO Spaces utilises shipping containers to design and manufacture pop-up portable spaces for many blue-chip businesses including Fever-Tree and Jeep to display and market their products and services. This award-winning company is now ready to enter the modular housing market with more than 500 homes already in the pipeline for 2018.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£651,950
