After graduating from YC, Houm banks $8m to improve the home rental market in LatAm

Fresh out of Y Combinator’s W21 cohort, PropTech firm Houm secured an $8m seed round. 

Led by Y Combinator, other backers in the round included Goodwater Ventures, OneVC, Vast VC, Liquid2, and Myelin as well as angel investors like Elad GilEric Wu, Opendoor CEO, Austen Allred, Lambda School founder and John Kobs, Apartment list CEO.

Launched in 2018 in Chile, Houm founders Benjamín Labra and Nicolás Knockaert aimed to disrupt the real estate industry by transforming the traditionally bureaucratic, informal and difficult process in the industry by leveraging technology.

The company started their operations in Colombia in mid-2020 and its most recent opening was in Mexico in January this year. The firm aims to use the funding to expand and consolidate across LatAm with the ambition to become the “main digital broker platform and service of the region,” it said.

Houm’s platform allows people to rent, buy, sell and manage properties, maximising their profitability through a fully digital process, affordable prices and safety guarantee on their rent payments. Houm’s algorithm helps the homeowner determine a fair price for their property but the listed price remains up to the owner.

The firm claimed that 90% of its properties are leased in 30 days or less. The company also guarantees that renters will get paid every month and if a tenant falters, Houm covers the cost.

Commenting on the round, Labra said, “One of the benefits our landlords most appreciate is that we pay the rent every month on the fifth, despite whether the tenant has paid or not. We can afford to do this because we have insurance that allows the landlord to be relaxed, not worried and we handle any eviction lawsuit.”

With more than $300m in asset management, the team employs 200 people alongside a freelance force of more than 200 ‘Houmers’ – a figure it seeks to increase this year.

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