Rental site Zumper has raised $6.5 million in a Series A funding round it says it will use to become an end-to-end rentals service.
Zumper powers a nationwide apartment search and rental listings management platform. The funding, led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), will help Zumper achieve its end goal of servicing both renters and landlords, said Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades in a statement.
Last year was a busy one for the San Francisco-based firm, which says it currently has 500,000 active rental listings. In April, Zumper released a free landlord-focused iPhone app that helps users post listings on the go. In July, it began powering rental searches U.S.-wide and was one of 13 startups selected to join Inman News’ Inman Incubator program. And in August it released its first consumer iPhone app.
“Zumper will become not just a destination for renters to search for their next apartment, but the platform from which they will schedule appointments and apply for their new home, all from their phones,” Georgiades said in a statement. “On the other side, our thousands of landlord and broker users will be able to generate, manage and then close all their tenant leads through the Zumper Pro ecosystem, whether on iPhone, Android or Web.”
By tailoring its products to both renters and landlords with an eye on servicing the full spectrum of the rental process, Zumper competes squarely with rental-focused startups Cozy and Lovely, who have also announced their intentions to become end-to-end rental platforms.
Cozy and Lovely, which have platforms to allow renters to pay rent online and request credit checks through Experian Marketing Services, closed Series A funding rounds in 2013 — Cozy raised $5 million in October and Lovely raised an undisclosed sum in November.
KPCB partner Chi-Hua Chien, who led Zumper’s $1 million seed round, will join Zumper’s board of directors. Investors NEA and Dawn Capital also participated in the Series A round.
