Howsy raises £5m in the latest shake-up of the UK rental sector
Investment secures new management hires, accelerates existing technology pipeline, sales & marketing and signals acquisition intentions
Investment led by Skybound Capital
Howsy, the UK’s leading online property management platform has today announced an investment raise of £5m, led by Skybound Capital – one of London’s most forward thinking global wealth management businesses – as well as a number of existing investors.
Howsy is disrupting the lettings industry
Howsy is pioneering a radical step change in the lettings industry, spearheaded by the company’s focus on technology which has already seen them become a leading digital disruptor in the UK lettings space.
Howsy provides end to end property management for UK landlords, from tenant find through to repairs management and renewals. Howsy combines technology and innovative insurance products to offer a low fixed-fee management cost, saving landlords thousands of pounds a year compared to high street lettings agents.
Howsy has been at the forefront of changes in the industry, being one of the first to digitise the lettings process and provide 24/7 support for customers. It was also the first national company to abolish renter fees, a whole three years before the nationwide ban was implemented.
Established in 2016, the company is based in Shoreditch, London, and has doubled in size each year.
Executive team bolstered with new hires
This latest round of funding will allow Howsy to open a new operations centre in Coventry as well as expand its team, with the company making a number of high-profile hires in senior positions.
Marc Harris joins the executive team as CTO and will focus on the rapid acceleration of Howsy’s technological innovation enabling Howsy to grow at significant scale. Marc is a proven CTO with a history of innovation and customer focussed delivery having previously led the tech divisions of enterprise social media platform CrowdControlHQ and BigHand, a groundbreaking Tech Track 100 and Profit Track 100 listed digital dictation and speech recognition pioneer.
Mark Hodson, previously of PayPal, notonthehighstreet and ACHICA, joins Howsy as CMO, leveraging his experience of marketplaces to grow awareness and customer acquisition. The final addition of the executive team is Steven Kemp, appointed as COO who joins from Shutl (purchased by eBay) bringing deep knowledge of building operational capabilities at scale.
In addition to strengthening a well-rounded team sheet, Howsy’s immediate plans include a number of acquisitions to help accelerate the growth of the company.
Founder and CEO of Howsy, Calum Brannan, commented:
“We’re delighted to close on our largest funding round to date and this really cements our current position as one of the leading Proptech companies in the UK.
We think that renting should be better for everyone. Landlords and tenants have been underserved in this industry, and we are rapidly shaking it up through great technology and a focus on customer service.
We’ve already started to turn this around on a national scale and this latest raise, along with a few strategic acquisitions, should not only help us in our mission, but it will enable us to scale fast as well as look at opportunities outside of the UK. We’re aiming to make renting a property as easy as booking a hotel.”
Howsy’s board includes Nick Hynes and Carl Uminski (co-founders of Somo) and is chaired by Gillian Kent (Former MD of MSN UK and CEO OF PropertyFinder.com which sold to Zoopla).
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