Badi prepares to give access to the big owners

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

The room rentals startup has seen in the large owners a business vein for the coming years

They began to attract attention at the beginning of 2017, but since 2015 they have been operating in the housing market. The room rental niche was the founder's goal; the question of the complete floors stayed for other technological ones like Spotahome.

Since then, and according to its founder Carlos Pierre, "the company has grown in users, in money, numbers, equipment and geographies". Already in 2017, the CEO of the company explained that Badi lacked a monetization path, his goal was, therefore, to grow explosively and then find a way to finance his business. Since then, Badi has closed 5 rounds of financing, raising almost 40 million euros. The last of them in January of this year, of 26 million, led by the American fund Goodwater Capital. For the future, they explain that "there will be a new round, but we do not know when, in the end for what we need and want we need a lot of money and we are constantly talking to investors".

With these funds, explains the founder, Badi has grown, reaching 75 employees, and has expanded outside of its home country. London is already a reality - where the professionalization of the real estate market makes the region much more interesting - and on the radar is Berlin, where they plan to operate throughout this year.

As for monetization, they already have several shy attempts to start growing in that area.

In spite of everything, they explain that at Badi, "they hate the word monetization because the product strategy is followed, it is not that we do not want to make money, but it is the correct order". With a logic similar to that carried out by Wallapop at the time - which reached the critical mass, and then address the issue of making money with it - the first step has been the implementation of payments via application. "A more efficient payment and booking system," he explains, through which a management fee will be taken. First with the first payment, then move on to the monthly payments.

The great great proprietors make their appearance

The company has seen the need to implement an option to control large volumes of real estate assets.

Unlike London, the professional rental sector in Spain still has a very long journey. Very atomized and unprofessional, these are the words that define the business in Spain. Only 3% of the real estate park is controlled by professionals - investment funds, socimis or promoters - but it grows by leaps and bounds. The acquisition, by Cerberus or Blackstone (large funds), of a large number of houses shows the situation that is to come; With increasing profitability and low prices for many years, the business was served. Likewise, the rental sector, whether it is for complete houses or rooms, has grown. According to official figures, only 22% of the population in the country is renting; a smaller percentage than our European neighbors, but on the rise.

This is the business that Badi has seen coming. The technological company of renting of rooms has prepared for the figure of the professional rents. This is not just about young people looking for the best roommate. The company has seen the need to implement an option to control large volumes of real estate assets. Efficient management for these clients is Badi's goal.

Also as a data company

As Guillem Pons, Chief Data Officer of Badi, explains, "Badi was born as a data company from the start". It began with a file that was crossing data, then move on to make decisions based on them. The creation of the division of large owners comes, in fact, from the identification of that need. Also the test and the error of the algorithm that would implement the matches within the platform.

Saving time was also a mechanism identified by the company. When one of the users initiates a new search, the system will only offer those that it believes will be better adapted to the needs of the applicant. At the moment, it has an effectiveness of 6 hits on 10 offers. With a rotation of 6 months for each room, over time they have learned in depth about how their users work. So much so that, in fact, they have been able to dispense with third-party tools for their analysis.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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