Proptech firm, Zazume, launched just this year, has secured €2.5 million investment in a seed round led by London-based Nordstar. Picus Capital, Plug&Play and a group of business angels also participated.
Zazume, founded by the former managing director of Airbnb for EMEA Jeroen Merchiers, and Guillermo Ceballos, founder of startups such as GymForLess and Andjoy, provides end-to-end rental management software that simplifies the entire letting process for real estate companies, landlords, and tenants.
The ‘build-to-rent’ model is experiencing a boom today in Spain, due to new generational needs and experiences. Young people are increasingly looking to live in affordable homes, but also want to rent a configurable lifestyle instead of just physical space. A recent study by Tecnocasa Group has shown that rental prices in major cities such as Madrid and Barcelona have fallen sharply by around 10% during this year. Through its pioneering SaaS platform, Zazume aims to digitise the Spanish residential rental lifecycle with new value-added services that represent a potential revenue opportunity for the sector of €1.5 billion.
The innovative company offers a SaaS platform designed specifically for real estate professionals, including agencies, administrators, and property managers. It allows them to integrate their operations with the best proptech companies in each country, the resulting ecosystem of connection enables streamlined tenant scoring, rent guarantee insurance, deposit financing, utility management and in-home services.
The technology aims to not only save money on technology for property management, and streamline operations, but also help those in the real estate industry make money. It can also be used to deliver valued goods and services to tenants and allows them to quickly and easily pay for them.
Through the Zazume platform, a single member of the real estate team can manage up to 500 properties per day in a very comfortable, intuitive and cost-efficient way. Zazume facilitates the residential experience, optimising all the necessary services that an individual or family needs to settle comfortably in a new home with just one click under a single platform. This technology can easily be integrated with the real estate company’s own legacy system.
The young company will use the funds to further develop its technology, business development and the implementation of its ambitious international expansion plan. With headquarters in Barcelona, the company is primed to take advantage of an international talent pool. Zazume has recently opened an office in Madrid to better serve the Spanish market.
Jeroen Merchiers, CEO of Zazume said: “Having the confidence of these high calibre European funds enables us to become the benchmark technology platform for residential rental in Spain and other European markets. The investment will help us to optimize our technology and continue to grow our portfolio of real-estate partners”.