DIY landlord and renter platform Avail announced Wednesday that it raised $4.2 million in a Series A round of funding, led by St. Louis-based venture capital firm Cultivation Capital. The company said the funding will go toward accelerating its position as the leading management and rent payments platform for small landlords and renters.
According to Avail CEO Ryan Coon, the company has seen tremendous growth and adoption in its online rent collection, as both tenants and landlords are moving to contactless payments due to COVID-19 concerns.
“Avail landlords typically own and manage a few rentals, often in addition to a full-time job,” said Coon in a statement. “We know how valuable their time is, so we’re proud of being able to automate the rental process for them.”
“Equally important is improving the experience for the renters living in these units,” Coon continued. “They deserve best-in-class technology and service. We’re excited to make their lives easier with things like online payments that automatically report to the credit bureaus.”
Avail said it is seeing more growth as DIY landlords move their rental businesses online, recording record revenue during the second quarter.
Coon said that since the pandemic reduced the demand in late Q1 and early Q2 for listings, listings picked up dramatically later in Q2.
Landlords use Avail to syndicate their vacant property listings across top rental websites to reduce the need for maintaining multiple accounts with multiple websites.
The funding will also be used to expand its core platform, including bridging new functionality to landlords and renters. The company also wants to include insurance, banking and utilities into the platform.
“Our mission is to create a community of responsible landlords and trustworthy renters,” said Coon. “This investment brings us closer to delivering a better renting experience for the 53 million DIY landlords and their renters nationwide.”
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