ideal flatmate closes funding round of £1.1million
At ideal flatmate, the UK’s first algorithm-based flatmate matchmaker, we have closed our latest funding round with total Seed funding now passing £2 million.
Our platform, designed in collaboration with Cambridge professors, is based on an algorithm similar to that of dating websites. It prioritises how well-matched prospective flat-sharers are with regard to personalities – rather than just location and budget.
Founders of ideal flatmate, Tom Gatzen and Rob Imonikhe, came up with the idea after years of increasing frustration with the lack of options for finding flatmates other than searching through current listing websites.
Since its launch in 2017, the site has reached an average of 500,000 monthly users, with more than 150,000 people registered as a flathunter on the site and over 80,000 properties listed. The ideal flatmate app has now been launched, along with the ideal flatmate Select portal which enables the matching of groups of compatible sharers, ready to move into Build to Rent developments.
“There are more than three million 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.”
The additional funding we have received will allow ideal flatmate to continue our growth across the UK, having launched in seven new cities this year. It will also enable us to develop our tech solutions for the growing Build to Rent market, where 150,000 new properties are set to be completed in the next three years.
ideal flatmate has onboarded the largest number of Build to Rent developers as clients of any flatsharing platform in the UK, and launched an Enquiry Management process which takes much of the pre-referencing burden from BTR house-builders. As the BTR sector continues its rapid expansion following government backing, ideal flatmate is in a perfect position to capitalise on these relationships.
The business is also set to launch a number of new partnerships in the coming months, as we develop our product to better serve our flathunter and landlord users. These improvements include the ability to conduct a credit check through the platform, and sign a tenancy agreement online.
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 including 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.”
