Here, a fractional vacation rental investment platform, today announced raising a $5 million seed round led by Fiat Ventures, according to a press release.
The company says it will use the funding to rapidly expand its product offerings across more than 20 vacation rental destinations in the U.S., in addition to the three current markets it has established itself in since launching in February.
Seed funding also included participation from Liquid 2 Ventures, Mucker Capital, Basecamp Ventures, and Daffy co-founder and former Wealthfront CEO Adam Nash.
“I launched Here to democratize access to high-quality real estate investments. We’re bringing the top destination markets with the highest returns to investors of all sizes,” stated Corey Ashton Walters, Here co-founder and CEO, in the release.
“Between a 20% down payment, inflation and high interest rates, purchasing a home is out-of-reach for most young Americans. At the same time, data shows that 75% of all U.S. travel spend will be made by Millennials and Gen Z by 2025. The opportunity has never been hotter,” Walters said.
Here claims its first-of-its-kind marketplace provides both accredited and non-accredited investors the opportunity to obtain partial ownership in curated vacation rentals across top destinations in the U.S. It says through this marketplace it hopes to unlock the $1.8 trillion short-term rental market for everyday investors.
The company says that it currently has over 30,000 members, and noted that due to quarterly dividends on rental income, investments through its platform provide less risk for capital.
“Vacation rentals are an investment opportunity that historically has only been available to the wealthy. Here has created a seamless and simple way for everyday investors to participate in this market, and supporting their mission to open up this opportunity to everyone was an easy decision” said Adam Nash, Daffy CEO.
In other recent proptech news, BuildingLink announced receiving a strategic growth investment from Sagemount. Yardi also announced expanding its coworking and flex space services with new integrations across its commercial listing network.