Movebubble, the startup that wants to make renting in London suck a little less, has picked up $1.6 million in further funding, bringing total investment to just over $3.4 million. Investors include Adam Williams (former Spotify MD ,Swedish commercial music streaming, podcast and video service), Richard Leigh (co-founder and MD of asset management company London and Capital), and Robert Stiff.
Founded in 2013, Movebubble aims to “reduce the stress and hassle of renting” by enabling users to book viewings and secure a home by using feedback from other renters to inform their decisions.
The app works in partnership with 250 estate agencies across London and claims to have seen 170% ,month-on-month increase in downloads in January this year.
The funding, which takes total investment into the company to £2.36m, will be used to fuel Movebubble’s growth ambitions as it looks to “disrupt the market”.
Aidan Rushby, founder and CEO at Movebubble, said: “We are delighted to have secured such funding from a number of high profile investors. This will enable us to really improve the product and help make renting better for thousands of people.
Specifically, Movebubble promises to put renters first, letting them share information on different areas of London and give feedback on properties.
Crucially, it also claims to offer real-time availability of the properties listed through the app, solving one of the major pain-points of searching for a place to rent: by the time you contact a landlord or their agent, the property is already taken.
“There are 1.9 million renters in London, and so many ways that finding somewhere to rent is stressful and frustrating, from properties listed not actually being available, to ringing up multiple agents about a variety of properties in utter confusion, to not knowing which area of a city is best for you to live,” Movebubble founder Aidan Rushby.
“We check the real-time availability of properties, let renters book and manage viewings in one place and offer curated area guides based on renters’ preferences. For the first time, we let renters help each other with their searches, through sharing their insights on properties.”
Movebubble App: additional features walkthrough
This renter-first approach, says Rushby, is in contrast with competitors Rightmove and Zoopla, which focus more on the supply side of the rental process, doing very little beyond listing properties to rent.
“The problem with Rightmove and Zoopla is that they don’t see the renter through to the point of viewing properties – renters have to ring up so many different estate agents (there are over 2,000 in London) that it’s nearly impossible to keep track of bookings and you have to note down all these details elsewhere,” Rushby says.
That’s a point echoed by investor and Movebubble director Arik Peretz, who says he “fell in love” with Movebubble because it brings greater efficiency and transparency to the rental market.
What Do Renters Think of Movebubble?
Meanwhile, it’s not currently possible to actually rent a property through the Movebubble app, but this is on the startup’s immediate roadmap, which, once rolled out, would pit it more against something like Rocket Internet’s NestPick.
Only yesterday, high-street estate agent CountryWide Plc and property portal Zoopla, were linking up ,with a property management software firm fixflow.
Last year easyProperty.com were scouting with the intention of acquiring, a student rental /lettings start up, with a value upto £7million, emoov have also been let it known that they have similar plans.
Purplebricks.com have their own proprietary in house ezie sales and lettings, software platform.
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