The London-based property technology startup DoorFeed raised €7 million in its latest funding round to further develop its platform, which enables large-scale institutional acquisition and management of rental homes across Europe.
The seed extension round was led by Motive Partners Venture Capital, with follow-on investments from Stride VC and Seedcamp.
This newest capital injection builds on DoorFeed’s prior raises, including a €3.5 million seed round in 2021 from Stride and Seedcamp, plus €1.5 million in debt financing from BPI France last year. To date, the company has now secured over €12 million to support its mission of revolutionizing real estate investing by aggregating small residential assets into institutional-grade portfolios.
Founded by James Kirimy, former Head of Electrification at Uber UK, DoorFeed has developed an integrated SaaS platform and service network that allows investment funds to systematically discover, acquire, upgrade, and operate single-family rental properties.
Combining data analytics, process automation, and a partner ecosystem, the startup’s solution provides robust operational efficiency, facilitates portfolio concentration, and enables cost-effective value creation.
Buy-to-Rent Investments Surge in Europe Amid Property Price Increases
DoorFeed’s value proposition directly targets surging investor demand for residential living assets across Europe. Research shows that European investments in apartments, houses, and build-to-rent projects exceeded €10 billion last quarter, outpacing other property types.
Furthermore, small buy-to-let investors account for 20% of activity in this fragmented sector. By aggregating data from dispersed sources and enabling programmatic acquisition, DoorFeed helps consolidate assets into an institutionally-manageable portfolio scale.
Aside from its appeal to investors, the company’s core offering also promotes housing affordability and sustainability for tenants. DoorFeed’s renovation tools and focus on upgrading energy efficiency facilitate the execution of improvements in existing properties and raise living standards for occupants.
DoorFeed Launches First French PE Fund Focused on Single-Family Rental Properties
Validating its strong product-market fit, DoorFeed recently launched the first private equity fund in France focused specifically on single-family rentals.
With this latest funding infusion, the company plans to keep enhancing its proprietary capabilities, as well as preparing its expansion into other European markets like Germany, Spain, and the UK.
DoorFeed’s seed investor Seedcamp views the company as well-positioned to capitalize on a growing trend pointing to the institutionalization of living assets. “We are excited to continue supporting DoorFeed and to witness the strong momentum they are now gaining”, emphasized Sia Houchangnia, a Partner at Seedcamp.
He added: “James and his team have built a unique, full-stack platform that is revolutionizing the way institutional capital is deployed in the European real estate market”.
Over time, successfully demonstrating the merits of the private single-family rental model may convince more asset managers to allocate investment into this emerging category. Meanwhile, DoorFeed’s own platform innovations should help solidify first-mover status.
DoorFeed Makes Buy-to-Rent Easy
Persistently undersupplied across urban Europe, the housing market has faced further inflationary pressures recently from rising interest rates and building material costs. While demand keeps growing amidst demographic inflows, home ownership affordability has become increasingly strained.
These dynamics make the aim of expanding rental availability a priority for policymakers seeking to address social imbalances. However, individual buy-to-let investors lack the financial scale for transformative impact across large portfolios of homes. Meanwhile, institutional capital has historically focused on other segments of the real estate due to the operational complexities of managing diffused residential assets.
DoorFeed’s platform directly bridges this gap by enabling investors to buy and operate small dispersed properties as efficiently and easily as it would for larger commercial buildings. In effect, the startup replicates the revolutionizing role that ag-techs play for agriculture: aggregating fragmented supply into a transparent, fungible, and manageable asset class for institutional participation.
As DoorFeed supports the sector in scaling towards its full potential, the beneficiaries of this trend range from below-market renters to previously disenfranchised would-be homeowners.
Top Competitors Include Immo Capital in Germany and Bricklane in the UK
Recognizing the massive opportunity, DoorFeed is not the only proptech firm focused on mobilizing investment into residential assets. Immo Capital raised $75 million in April 2022 for its German platform enabling multi-family property portfolio management. Meanwhile, competitors such as Bricklane and Casafari also help investors buy and operate rental homes in various countries including the United Kingdom, Spain, and Portugal.
However, DoorFeed’s combination of data-driven origination, centralized operations and, integrated servicing capabilities differentiate it from competitors. The company excels at efficiently aggregating supply into homogeneous portfolios and then removing asset management burdens via an end-to-end solution. The goal is to lower the barriers that traditionally dissuaded capital deployment into small residential properties.
Key Partners Like Motive Ventures Could Open Up Strategic Doors for DoorFeed
This latest funding round comes at a crucial juncture for DoorFeed. Fresh capital allows it to expand its technical functionalities, geographic reach, and sales capacity right at the moment that market tailwinds are creating the ideal timing for gaining market share.
Investor partner Motive Ventures specifically cited the company’s mission of using innovation to “address challenges in the real estate market and thereby solve tangible social problems”.
Furthermore, backing from a PE-linked fund like Motive with extensive industry connections can accelerate DoorFeed’s access to clients. Rapid user growth will facilitate self-reinforcing data network effects, further cementing the startup’s competitive edge.