The last year has been a time of significant growth for Apartment List, an online rental marketplace.
In the last year, Apartment List grew its number of listed properties by 50% and now features nearly 4 million listings, which is approximately 10% of all rentals in the U.S. today.
Apartment List also recently inked deals to provide rental listings to both Facebook and realtor.com, and the company plans to keep expanding.
And now, the company has some new funding to help it do just that.
Apartment List announced Thursday that it raised $50 million in a Series C round of funding. The funding brings the company’s total capital raise to $110 million.
According to the company, John Burbank, the founder of Passport Capital, led the round and will join the company’s board of directors.
Also participating in the funding round were Allen & Company, Canaan Partners, Industry Ventures, Matrix Partners, Quantum Partners, a private investment fund managed by Soros Fund Management, Tenaya Capital, and WTI.
The company has reached more than 150 million users in over 40 cities since its launch in 2011, and now plans to expand into new verticals, including single-family homes.
“Apartment List exists to make sure renters have an equal place in today’s housing market,” John Kobs, CEO and co-founder of Apartment List, said.
“Renters deserve the same personalized, seamless, white-glove experience that buyers get,” Kobs continued. “We’re innovating our marketplace and scaling our business to help people make better, smarter decisions about where they live and we won't stop until we've won this market. This investment brings us one step closer to that goal.”
The company said that it plans to use the new funding to expand its market share by growing its property inventory to include smaller apartment buildings and single-family homes.
The company also said that it expects to double its headcount this year.
“Today’s rental market is experiencing a major shift, as more and more people delay homeownership. There is a huge opportunity to capitalize on this underserved segment,” Burbank said. “Apartment List is the most innovative and user-focused platform for renters today. I look forward to working closely with John, Chris (Erickson, chief operating officer and co-founder) and the entire team as they grow and scale their business.”
According to the company, last year one out of 183 renters found their home on Apartment List. The company expects that figure to rise to one out of 64.
