Amidst profound societal changes in the way we live, work, and travel, the property market has been undergoing a transformation. One key trend is that more and more people want a second home. To tap into the second-home owner market, Madrid-based Vivla has just raised €27 million becoming the highest-funded fractional home ownership startup in Europe.
The fresh funding was led by Pan-European fund Samaipata with participation from New York-based FJ Labs UK fintech hedge fund Fasanara, Accel and Extension Fund. It also involves a very select group of business angels and successful entrepreneurs such as Chelsea football player César Azpilicueta, several early Airbnb employees such as Kintxo Cortés (who co-invests along with Accel), key players in the financial and technology sector such as Nathalie Picquot, prominent members of Endeavor such as Adrián Garcia-Aranyos, and CEOs of well-known startups such as Spotahome, Ironhack, ThePowerMBA, Constella, Ticketea, Tiko, Ukio and Smartick – quite the impressive lineup!
Founded just last year by Iván Rodríguez, Carlos Floria and Carlos Emilio Gómez, Vivla is on a mission to become the European leader in the second home real estate category. Whilst demand for second homes is on the rise, it’s reported that about 75% of potential homeowners find it difficult to purchase a second home. Factors such as price, maintenance costs, the amount of red tape involved and the risk of having a home unoccupied for almost eleven months of the year are putting people off making this kind of investment.
Carlos Emilio Gomez, the CEO and co-founder of Vivla, says: “Fractional home ownership is a new category of real estate that is set to transform the second home sector. It was created in response to changing social consumption patterns and the bursting post-Covid demand that has created a new generation of buyers looking to enjoy the benefits of home ownership while avoiding the hassles and constraints that typically come with it. Additionally, fractional ownership promotes a more sustainable real estate and touristic model, enabling owners to fully occupy their property every month of the year”.
In southern Europe alone, there are 18 million homes which are occupied only 15% of the time, while millions of Europeans are looking for homes for long term stays in the same areas. Fractional homeownership is therefore the perfect solution for them. It’s a new trend with massive growth potential, appealing to a new generation of homeowners. As it stands, the real estate innovators are predicting a 2022 turnover of €10 million, reaching €100 million in two years.
The young proptech startup uses an innovative real estate model which allows any person to become the legal owner of any property and enjoy it in a flexible way, without having to buy the full property. Vivla has developed an innovative legal framework in collaboration with Garrigues, a top legal firm in Europe to make this happen.
WIth Vivla’s solution, for example, a family could invest €300,000 in an exclusive €2.4 million villa in Ibiza and be able to use it for six weeks each year. They would not have to worry about managing the property, maintenance costs would be shared, and they would be able to liquidate their investment at any time.
The large funding round will allow Vivla to become a strong real estate buyer in the local markets, with plans to transact €100M in home purchases in the next 24 months. Vivla will partner with the most exclusive local developers and agencies, to select and certify the best properties in each destination.
Carlos Gómez added: “This allows us to offer our clients a unique product which has the Vivla quality seal of quality and comes with an additional list of exclusive and personalized services such as excellent interior design, restaurant bookings, childcare or chef services among other.”
Through combing the exclusive service of a boutique real estate agency with 5-star hotel services, Vivla is offering an attractive and unique offering. Bookings are managed by an algorithm that allows equal distribution between owners during high, medium and low seasons.
Founder Ivan Rodriguez commented: “We manage the entire life cycle of the client: from finding the house to facilitating the purchase, concierge services and property management during all the years of use, as well as the resale of their holding in the future. It also facilitates the purchase of homes by groups of friends, and even the partial sale of the property by some of its owners.”
Vivla is currently working on an invitation-only model and has already begun operations in Madrid, Marbella, Sotogrande, Ibiza and Mallorca. It will launch in the Canary Islands, Costa Brava and Costa Blanca during the coming months, as well as in rural and mountain destinations.