Ukio, a premium apartment rental platform for Europe's 'flexible workforce', raises $28m

Ukio, a short-term furnished apartment rental platform aimed at the "flexible workforce", has raised €27 million ($28 million) in the as part of a Series A funding round. The cash injection represents €17 million in equity and €10 million in debt, and comes approximately 14 months after the Spanish company announced a funding round of 9 million euros.

Founded in Barcelona in 2020, Ukio targets a very specific subset of society - those who don't like to be tied to a fixed place, either in their personal or professional life. As the remote working revolution continues apace, Ukio aims to offer professionals the comforts of home with the added benefits and flexibilities of a hotel, with each apartment including a concierge and reception area, while some properties also include a weekly cleaning service and linen/towels. replacement.

On top of that, the price of each property includes all utilities (e.g. broadband and electricity), taxes, and anything else you would normally get with a nightly rate at a hotel. All the tenant has to worry about is one recurring monthly payment that they make directly to Ukio, which handles all the maintenance and management behind the scenes.

The company says the average length of stay in an apartment provided by Ukio is four to five months, although it supports stays between one and 11 months. It should be noted that customers initially book for a fixed period, but they can extend their stay via Ukio's online platform.

As for how Ukio sources apartments, co-founder Stanley Fourteau says they adopt a “multi-pronged sourcing strategy” targeting individual owners, property developers and family offices . Ukio typically only accepts seven-to-10-year leases with landlords, meaning they're obligated to stay on the platform for that length of time - but to protect against underperforming properties, Ukio n only has a one-year obligation, which means he only has to give 45 days notice after the first year. However, he says he rarely has to.

“Ukio uses proprietary tools to find high-quality, off-market apartments based on strict criteria in prime locations in each city,” Fourteau told TechCrunch. “This data-driven supply acquisition strategy, combined with on-the-ground knowledge of local real estate, ensures that as Ukio embarks on a new city, we are able to quickly acquire and effectively a pipeline of high-quality apartments."

While Ukio's strategy begins with a more outbound approach, over time its existing multi-owner owners often increase their presence on the Ukio platform, according to Fourteau.

"As the brand becomes better known and more trusted in our markets, we are seeing a steady increase in the number of existing owners providing more and more of the offer, as well as new owners wanting to partner with us", did he declare. "In the cities we've lived in for more than a year, Ukio's inbound lead count averages around 60%, compared to 40% for outbound calls."

UK io co-founders Jeremy and Stanley Fourteau. Image credits: Ukio

It seems that Ukio could serve two main use cases. A young professional, for example, who can work from wherever they want might want to sample a new city before committing to a longer-term rental - Ukio would serve that purpose reasonably well. Alternatively, anyone who has landed a new job in a fixed office could use Ukio as a stopgap solution until they find more suitable long-term housing. A ...