Business

Chilean startup Houm raises $35 million Series A round

The round will serve to start operations in 15 new cities in Chile, Mexico, and Colombia, and invest in talent to triple its team and continue its growth in Latin America

Benjamín Labra (CEO) and Nicolás Knockaert (COO), co-founders at Houm. Photo: Courtesy/Houm

LABS

12.Nov.2021 15:53 BRT

The Series A comes just six months after Houm announced an $8 million Seed Series;
Labra rented his property and his tenant didn’t pay him, so that’s when he saw the opportunity of building his proptech.

Houm, a Chilean version of Brazil’s unicorn QuintoAndar, announced it has raised a $35 million Series A round led by Goodwater Capital, and Fifth Wall, followed by previous investors such as OneVC, Elad Gil, Liu Jang, Fen Ventures; as well as individual investors such as Rahul Mehta, managing partner at DST Global and Broadhaven.

The round will serve to start operations in 15 new cities in Chile, Mexico, and Colombia, and invest in talent to triple its team and continue its growth in Latin America.

“Goodwater is the largest Consumer Internet fund in the US and Fifth Wall is the largest Proptech fund in the world with investments such as Opendoor, Loft, allbirds, etc… So they will bring tremendous expertise. We are very excited about this milestone and the addition of new and important partners to the company. It is gratifying to see how the best funds in the world see potential in Houm, and this is just the beginning, great things are coming”, says Benjamín Labra, CEO and co-founder at Houm.

The Series A comes just six months after Houm announced an $8 million Seed Series, after participating in the Y Combinator W21 program, to which it was selected thanks to its sustained growth in Chile. With that funding, Houm was able to consolidate in Bogota and expand to Mexico City, achieving over 11x growth in the last year and 1000% hiring in its team regionally, exceeding its growth expectations, growing to over 350 employees in addition to its more than 300 employees.

A couple of years before, Labra met Houm’s co-founder Nicolás Knockaert (COO) at Columbia University and the two Chileans entrepreneurship’s story began when they decided to leave New York and start their own private real estate firm in their homeland, where they managed over 9 million real estate assets.

Labra rented his property and his tenant didn’t pay him, so that’s when he saw the opportunity of building his proptech.

For tenants, Houmers offer a proper tour in person or virtually. Houm manages property administration, tenant communication, and charges the rent. In Latin America, it is common for real estate firms to require guarantors. As its Brazilian peer, Houm dismisses guarantors and takes care of paying the rent when the tenant defaults since it has insurance that allows the coverage. Houm says about 90% of its properties are rented in 30 days or less.