Start-up wants to make home rentals 'as easy as booking a hotel'

A residential rental start-up has raised $46 million to build a platform that will allow users to rent a house or apartment instantly online.

Zumper, the country’s largest residential rental start-up, raised the money in a Series C funding round from Axel Springer and Stereo Capital. Also participating in the funding was Blackstone, the private equity market’s largest player in the real estate space and one of the nation’s largest landlords.

“Rental search alone is just not good enough for today’s consumer, with nearly every industry from mattresses to groceries undergoing disruption to bring direct-to-consumer, end-to-end solutions,” said Anthemos Georgiades, CEO and co-founder of Zumper. “After moving apartments seven times in my 20s, it was clear the rental industry was ripe for change. Zumper is well on its way to reshaping the way both consumers and landlords interface with rentals. We will make it as easy as a single click with our ‘Book Now’ platform rolling out in the coming months.”

The booking feature will enable renters to pre-qualify, reserve and ultimately book a house or apartment rental instantly, Zumper said. To support the project, the company will be adding 50 new employees to its San Francisco headquarters.

“Zumper aims to make renting an apartment as easy as booking a hotel,” the company said in a statement.

“As a client of Zumper and one of the largest landlords in the US, Blackstone is keenly focused on technological innovation to improve the rental process for both renters and landlords,” said Blackstone’s Sean Muellers, who will act as a board observer.