NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blueground, a PropTech company offering a turnkey housing solution for renters globally, today announced that it has raised $180 million in Series C financing. In this round, Blueground raised $140 million in equity financing led by WestCap, with participation from Geolo Capital, VentureFriends, and Prime Ventures. In addition, Blueground raised a $40 million debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank. Together with this new round, Blueground has raised a total of $258 million.
With more than 5,000 apartments across 15 major cities globally, Blueground is reinventing the future of living by making apartments available globally for people where they want, when they want, on the terms they want. Through its network of beautifully designed and fully furnished apartments, guests are able to stay in some of the most desirable neighborhoods and cities throughout the world for a month, a year, or more. Blueground provides a complete leasing solution including offering a full rental income guaranteed for landlords, regardless of occupancy rate.
“We founded Blueground with a vision of offering our guests a home in every major city, giving them the flexibility and confidence they need to explore the world,” said Alex Chatzieleftheriou, CEO and Co-Founder of Blueground. “With the new living and working paradigm, we are ideally positioned to meet people’s increasing demands for greater flexibility. We’re incredibly excited about the vast growth potential, which will be accelerated by this latest round of funding.”
As the digital nomad category continues to expand and it becomes more standardized for employees to work from anywhere, the need for flexible, long-term accommodation is rising. During the worst days of 2020 when countries were enforcing strict quarantine measures, Blueground was able to maintain 92% occupancy of units, and ensure cash flow for landlords – outperforming amidst the challenging environment. Blueground has added 1,400 new units in the last 18 months, launched three new markets – Denver, Vienna, and Austin – and continued to invest in its proprietary technology. As pandemic-related movement restrictions wound down, resurgent demand for flexible living options soared. Throughout this period, Blueground continued to improve its operations, develop sector leading technology, and as result, it recently reached cash flow positivity. Blueground is now back in hyper growth mode and has established itself as the de facto leader in monthly to yearly furnished rentals.
“Blueground has differentiated itself in all the right ways – outstanding unit economics across mature markets, distinctive durability that insulates the business from volatility, market-leading NPS, and importantly, a style of disciplined growth that lends itself to strong forward visibility,” said Charlie Young, WestCap Partner and Blueground Director. “For the success achieved to date, Alex and team are just getting started.”
"Blueground is uniquely positioned to address the growing need for flexibility in real estate as companies continue to delay return-to-office mandates," said John Pritzker, Geolo Capital's Founding Partner and Director. "There’s an immense opportunity here; and with Alex and the Blueground team as the clear leaders in 30+ day stays, we're confident that Blueground will continue to see success."
In conjunction with the announcement, Geolo Capital will gain a seat on the Board, to be filled by Tom Gottlieb, Co-Founder & Managing General Partner of Geolo Capital.
To learn more about Blueground or find your next apartment, please visit www.theblueground.com
About Blueground
Blueground is a global PropTech company that is reinventing the way people live with its curated network of thousands of quality, turnkey homes in sought-after neighborhoods around the globe, accessible for stays of a month or longer. Blueground’s tech-enabled platform provides a fully digitized experience with customer support and access to daily necessities from apartment cleanings, grocery delivery, wellness offerings, and more, providing a seamless experience end to end. Blueground is headquartered in New York City, with a portfolio of thousands of apartments in 15 cities worldwide including in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., Denver, Seattle, Austin, Dubai, Istanbul, Paris, London, Vienna and Athens. Blueground plans to expand to 50 cities by 2025. Find us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter or at www.theblueground.com.
About WestCap Group
The WestCap Group is a growth equity firm founded by Laurence A. Tosi, who, together with the WestCap team, has founded, capitalized, and operated tech-enabled, asset-light marketplaces for over 20 years. With over $4 billion of assets under management, WestCap has made notable investments in technology businesses such as Airbnb, StubHub, Klarna, iPreo, Skillz, Sonder, Addepar, Hopper, iCapital and Bolt. For more information about WestCap, visit www.WestCap.com.
