Blueground’s New Funding Round Pushes Flexible Rental Strategy

A series C $180 million funding round—$140 in equity and $40 in debt—for proptech company Blueground will help push the company’s flexible apartment rental strategy.

Rather than a platform approach like Airbnb, Blueground works directly with property owners rather than acting as a marketplace, according to Hank Jonap, the company’s director of real estate in the U.S.

“Airbnb is a platform. It’s individuals posting pictures that could be accurate or could not be,” Jonap tells GlobeSt.com. “A lot of the difference [between an Airbnb and Blueground] is the hospitality and concierge service of a hotel plus the services of a multifamily property. It’s the ease of use and efficiency, the brand identity, and 24-hour support through a dedicated app at the end of the day.” 

It’s also the type of use, with flexibility. People can take an apartment, whether directly as an individual or through an employer stationing them for a temporary assignment, for 30 days or more. Depending on the lease, a person can, with advanced notice, move from one city to another within the same class of accommodations (prices vary by location) and enjoy combining remote work and travel.

Blueground was founded in 2013 and launched in the U.S. in 2017. The company operates a claimed 5,000 apartments across 15 cities, including Athens, Istanbul, Dubai, London, Paris, Vienna, and six in the U.S. “We are planning for additional markets before the end of  the year: Berlin, Madrid, and Zurich,” Jonap adds.

“There are many people in the space, but technology is something that separates us,” says Jonap. “We have a tremendous business not only from the consumer side but the enterprise. It really comes down to anybody can do this. It’s getting the customers to be satisfied and travel within the network.”

In other words, the app is important—just as it is for competitors—with 3-D tours, pictures, and contacts for help. But despite the emphasis on technology, the operational and branding aspects are just as critical, if not more so. For example, “each city has a local team to ensure you get your needs met and questions answered,” says Jonap. “You’re not in L.A. talking to somebody in the Netherlands or something like that.”

And even when Jonap says “technology is something that separates us [from competitors], he follows up with, “It’s getting the customers to be satisfied and travel within the network.”

In other words, while technology makes the communications easier, a company had better have a lot behind it to be competitive.