The startup Libeen, led by José Manuel Cartes and Sofía Iturbe, and creator of smart housing, has attracted the attention of the German fund Cusp Capital and numerous top-level investors in this seed series round. Undoubtedly, one of the obvious reasons is that this proptech already has a volume of more than 20,000 users who want to own a property, in a potential market of 135,000,000 million euros, and that in recent months its portfolio of reservations has reached 20 million.
Another of the reasons, and one of the key elements of the purpose of this startup, is the concept of smart housing itself, focused mainly on the millennial generation: with a small down payment and using the money from the month-to-month rent, you start buying your home.
In the case of Cusp Capital, it has opted for Libeen to solve the problem of access to housing after studying numerous international companies and other sectors. The Madrid-based company has finally been the one to obtain the capital of the German fund destined to companies that produce a social impact thanks to its determination to solve a generational problem: “Nowadays we pay high rents that do not allow us to save, as we cannot save, we cannot afford a down payment for a house, as we cannot buy a house, we end up renting. And from that circle we can’t get out.” “With Libeen we are reinventing access to housing,” assured José Manuel Cartes.
“Libeen democratizes the real estate market by providing access to a group of people who were previously excluded from it. With its business model, Libeen is an expression of a general trend that we are observing and that will increase in the coming years,” said Maximilian Rowoldt, Investment Manager at Cusp Capital. “A golden decade is coming: business models that provide access to products and services not just for a small elite, but for a much broader segment of the population.”
This hitherto neglected market niche has allowed Libeen to double the number of employees in just a few months and plans to end this 2022 with around 50 workers. This platform aims to solve the problem of access to housing by offering a solution adapted to new ways of life. Now anyone can become a homeowner, providing a small down payment and with the monthly installments of their rent over a period of 3 to 7 years.
“Uber revolutionized mobility, Glovo revolutionized delivery and we want to reinvent access to housing with smart housing. The real estate sector has remained static for decades. With a waiting list of more than 20,000 people and our new round of funding, we are going to accelerate our growth significantly,” stressed Sofia Iturbe and Jose Manuel Cartes.