Short-term rental proptech secures $5m Series A funding

A technology platform aiming to enable institutional real estate portfolios to profit from Airbnb-style lettings has secured $5m in a Series A funding round.

Proptech Lavanda has secured the investment in a round led by Henley Ventures, the venture arm of global private equity real estate investor Henley Investments.

Lavanda’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform provides residential landlords and asset managers with a toolkit to enable them to execute high-yielding hospitality-led short and medium term rental strategies across both domestic and international portfolios.

Guy Westlake, founder of Lavanda, explained: “Traditional hospitality, travel and real estate industries are converging fast.

“By providing landlords and developers with the missing technology toolkit to harness this global trend, Lavanda unlocks a new wave of innovation for residential real estate.”

The investment sees Justin Meissel, Henley CIO and MD Europe, joining Lavanda’s board where he will sit alongside Harry Hill, founder of Rightmove, as non-executive director.

Justin commented: “Lavanda legitimises and institutionalises short and medium-term rental options for commercial landlords, providing a best-in-class technological solution.

“As owners, operators and developers of over 10,000 residential units, Henley have first-hand exposure to the income uplift potential driven by Lavanda’s model.

“Henley Ventures is pleased to be supporting Lavanda and their top notch team as their business goes global.”

Commenting on the investment, Guy added: “Partnership with Henley and their investment into the business enables us to take a major step towards realising our vision; to become the de facto technology platform powering a compliant global short and medium-term rental ecosystem.”

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