Feb

HMO platform raises £275,000 as it bids to become ‘Airbnb for house sharing’

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A tech platform that enables landlords to manage HMOs more effectively has raised £275,000 in new funding as its bids to become the ‘Airbnb for shared living’.

The money comes from asset management giant Mercia which has ten offices around the UK. Its MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage

Fund has made the investment in COHO, whose CEO Vann Vogstad (main pic, centre).

He came up with the idea of an online property management platform just for HMOs after living in house shares in Birmingham when he was a student.

COHO, which is unique within the housing tech space, is hoping to accelerate the growing trend for co-living amongst people of all ages. It allows property investors to manage their portfolio and tenants to find a suitable house share with like-minded people.

The platform, which Vogstad co-founded with Liam Cooper last year, has since then signed up 80 landlords.

The funding will allow the Worcester-based company to expand the team with the addition of five new jobs and develop a host of new features to improve the management of shared living.

Mainstream

“By making house sharing easier to manage for both landlords and tenants, COHO aims to bring it to the mainstream,” says Vogstad.

“The support of our investors will enable us to move forward at a much faster pace to achieve our ambition of making shared living more accessible to both property investors and tenants, and become the Airbnb of house shares.”

Kiran Mehta, Investment Manager at Mercia, says: “The property management sector is ripe for innovation with many landlords, in particular those with HMOs, having to patch together multiple management tools.

“COHO offers a one-stop shop for property management. Vann and the team have carved out a strong niche in the HMO market and have plans for some exciting additions to the product roadmap.”

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