Dwellsy.com, a newcomer rental marketplace that claims to have the most comprehensive set of listings in the U.S., has raised $11.5 million in seed funding.
Ulu Ventures led the round, joined by the University of Chicago, Frontiers Capital, Heroic Ventures, NJP Ventures, Blackhorn Ventures, Gaingels, and the BCG Angels, according to Dwellsy’s announcement.
Dwellsy, launched four years ago by a husband and wife in San Francisco, hosts a consumer-facing marketplace whose listings are entirely free-of-charge, the company says.
It monetizes partly on a product called DwellsyIQ, a database for clients such as developers, lenders and property-management companies. The continuously refreshed data includes information on more than 14 million rental units covering 250 attributes, including photos, rent rates and more, the company said.
Dwellsy also offers a product for renters called Dwellsy Edge that provides email alerts on available units fitting their criteria, an ad-free website experience and browsing protected by AI-based fraud detection.
“Dwellsy’s success is due to pent-up demand for a rental housing marketplace that provides an amazing experience for renters; zero-cost, high-quality listings for residential rental owners and managers; and high-quality property rental price data for businesses,” said Dwellsy CEO and cofounder Jonas Bordo, previously an executive with Essex Property Trust, an investor in rental housing.
In terms of traffic, Dwellsy is a minor player in the U.S., with 260,000 visits in October, according to SimilarWeb. That compares to 40.7 million for Apartments.com, the CoStar-owned no. 1 rental specialist site.