Written by Sherman Li, Partner – Residential real estate, which is a $500B industry in the U.S. alone, is one of the largest and most antiquated markets globally. When we look at the profound changes in the way people live and work today, mostly fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the time for innovation in real estate is now. A company rising to meet this exciting new possibility is June Homes which is why we’re announcing today that we are co-leading the company’s $27M Series B.
June Homes uses technology to challenge antiquated real estate practices and improve the rental experience for everyday consumers and mom-and-pop landlords. June Homes has already served thousands of customers across six cities, with big plans for expansion.
The whole rental system is broken for tenants and small landlords. For tenants, upfront costs associated with renting are exorbitant, outdated approval requirements are often unattainable, and year-long lease lengths are binding. The process of renting an apartment is cumbersome — time consuming, slow-moving, and full of excessive paperwork.
For landlords, long vacancies, high fees to various middlemen (e.g.brokers), and COVID-related eviction moratoriums put mom and pop owners at risk of losing their generational wealth.
The company has built a proprietary algorithm that detects apartments with untapped potential (sometimes in disrepair). Then, they partner directly with landlords, guaranteeing fewer vacancies and eliminating broker and management fees. June Homes works with a curated network of vendors, coined “Super Teams”, who are deployed to inspect, upgrade, renovate (if necessary), and list units for rent in as little as 72 hours.
Prospective tenants can visit www.junehomes.com and discover, apply for, and move into their new home in as little as 3 hours, all virtually through the June Homes app. The homes are fully customizable — tenants can rent furnished or unfurnished, with roommates or by themselves, and have the option to stay for as long as they’d like (1-18 months) while paying fair and accessible rates in the price range of local, traditional yearlong rentals.
We are strong believers that June Homes is providing today’s renters with exactly what they want in the post-pandemic world—flexibility, access, and convenience. We were very impressed with the team of A+ players who all got behind the vision of building the world’s largest housing company that doesn’t own a single property. Additionally, we were excited by the team’s ability to grow extremely quickly while staying asset-light, disciplined, and focused.
Founder and CEO Daniel Mishin hasn’t let the pandemic slow down the company’s progress. They’ve seen a 2.5x quarter over quarter increase in tenant growth and a 2.3x increase in unit growth year to date. The company has 25.5x less tenant defaults than industry average due to more flexible lease terms and its tenant satisfaction guarantee, and has achieved >90% occupancy sold rate even in the height of the COVID-19 crisis.
Today, June Homes is officially emerging from stealth to announce that the company has raised $50 million in total funding, and we are thrilled to support the June Homes mission.
