Casafari Raises $15M for Single-Family Home Investment

Casafari Secures Funding and Investment Mandate

Casafari, a European real estate data platform headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal, has successfully completed a $15 million Series A funding round. This round was spearheaded by Prudence Holdings, based in New York.

Significantly, the company has also obtained a $120 million investment “mandate” from Stoneweg, a private equity firm located in Geneva, alongside other private equity investors. This mandate is designated for the acquisition of residential and commercial real estate intended for buy-to-let purposes.

Investor Details

The investment group includes notable firms such as Armilar Venture Partners, known for its backing of unicorns Outsystems and Feedzai.

Further participation came from HJM Holdings, 1Sharpe – the founders of Roofstock – and FJ Labs, led by Fabrice Grinda, founder of OLX Group. Existing investor Lakestar also contributed to this funding round.

Company Overview and Strategy

Established in 2018 by Mila Suharev, Nils Henning, and Mitya Moskalchuk, Casafari is capitalizing on the fragmented nature of real estate data across Europe.

The absence of a centralized multiple listings service (“MLS”) presents an opportunity for Casafari to aggregate, verify, and distribute crucial data through its platform.

The company focuses on identifying single-family homes as a key asset class for institutional investors.

Platform Capabilities and Benefits

According to Nils Henning, the CEO, Casafari has developed a distinctive ecosystem.

This ecosystem connects brokers, developers, asset managers, and investors, facilitating sourcing, valuation, underwriting, and deal collaboration for individual units across all property types.

Casafari aims to enable the deployment of capital into large-scale, fragmented acquisitions, increasing market liquidity and transaction volume for its broker clients.

Current Platform Users

The platform is currently utilized by a diverse range of private investors.

Since its launch in 2018, Casafari has attracted users including Sotheby’s International Realty, Coldwell Banker, RE/MAX franchises, Savills, Fine & Country, Engel & Voelkers, and Keller Williams.

Institutional investors and developers such as Stoneweg, Kronos, Vanguard, and Vic Properties are also active users.

Market Opportunity and Future Plans

Mila Suharev, co-CEO and CPO of Casafari, highlights a significant market opportunity.

Approximately 70 billion euros in available capital currently exists in Europe for investment in residential buy-to-let properties, yet a readily available supply of suitable properties is lacking.

Casafari intends to address this gap by assembling portfolios of single units that appeal to pension funds and private equity real estate funds, mirroring strategies successfully implemented in the U.S.