United States: based in New York proptech start-ups June Homes has come out of hiding and announced it has raised $50 million in funding.
The funding round was led by SoftBank Ventures Asia, with participation from TQ Ventures [Scooter Braun, Schuster Tanger, Andrew Marks]FJ Labs, K50, Reshape, Quiet Capital and angel investors including Demi Lovato [musician and human rights activist] and Scott Belsky [founder of Behance].
The $50 million equity financing includes a recently raised $27 million Series B, as well as a previously unannounced $13 million Series A and $10 million seed funding. The capital is expected to be used to fuel the company’s expansion into other U.S. markets and further its mission to create a “more fair, transparent and efficient real estate system.”
According to June Homes, the current rental system is “broken”, both for tenants and for small owners.
For tenants, the upfront costs associated with renting are “exorbitant”, outdated approval requirements are “often unattainable” and one-year lease lengths are burdensome. The process of renting an apartment is “cumbersome, long, slow and full of excessive paperwork”.
For landlords, long vacancies, brokerage and management fees, and Covid-related eviction moratoriums “put ‘mom and pop landlords’ at risk of losing their generational wealth”.
The company claims to have built an algorithm that detects apartments with untapped potential [often in disrepair] and developed a process to inspect, upgrade, renovate and list units for rent in just under 72 hours.
With fully customizable homes, June Homes tenants can rent furnished or not, shared or alone, and have the possibility to stay as long as they wish [between one and 18 months]. He says unlike other short-term corporate housing companies that charge tenants up to twice for flexibility, June Homes’ rental rates are more in line with the price range of traditional leases.
On the landlord side, June Homes serves as a turnkey partner that seeks to eliminate brokerage and management fees, and ensure properties are filled with tenants ten times faster than traditional legacy systems.
Led by real estate entrepreneur and founder and CEO, Daniel Mishin, June Homes says it has already signed up “thousands” of tenants in New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Boston.
Over the past six months, the company also reported a 150% increase in tenant demand and a 137% increase in unit growth.
Mishin said, “June Homes goes much further than fulfilling a desire for flexible living, which is now table stakes in today’s world. By removing middlemen and outdated practices from the rental system, tenants and “mom and pop” landlords benefit financially and emotionally.
Sherman Li, Partner at SoftBank Ventures Asia and June Homes Board Member, said, “Innovation in the rental market is long overdue, and we believe June Homes’ modern approach will solve the main problems of tenants and landlords. June Homes lives at the intersection of a few trends that have lasting effects – broken rental system, hybrid/remote workforce, and challenging housing market.
“We have seen the June Homes team tackle space issues and redefine the market by providing more efficient and reliable services. We are excited to be part of the journey,” Li added.
Since its inception, June Homes has enjoyed early success with millennials and Gen Z professionals who value ease, convenience, accessible pricing, and customization.
Demi Lovato, who invested in the company’s Series A framework last year, said: “Finding a home should be an exciting chapter in life, but rather it is one of the most stressors our generation struggles with, and June Homes hopes to change that. .”
In addition to funding, June Homes announced that Chief Financial and Strategic Officer, Daneel Siddiky [formerly Amazon / Audible]chief of staff, Mauricio Zuniga [IBM]director of human resources Jennifer Gardner [Casper]VP of Brand, Erin Abernathy [Feather]and Vice President of Performance Marketing, Mateus Rocha [Skyscanner, Expedia]will join the company’s new management team.
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