Atomico and Caixa Capital invest in Uniplaces

3 Nov 2015

Uniplaces raises $24 million to support continuous growth in a rapidly expanding market.

Uniplaces, an online marketplace for booking student accommodation, raised a $24 million series A, led by Atomico with Caixa Capital as co-investor to further boost its European expansion plans.

The Portuguese startup, headquartered in London, offers students and landlords a transparent, standardized and efficient way to rent student accommodation online was founded by a multicultural team with proven track record in high growth companies. The round further includes existing investors Octopus Investments and Shilling Capital Partners. The angel investors backing the round are a who’s who of the European tech ecosystem, including the founders from Trivago, King.com, Klarna, Supercell, Albion, among others. New angel investors in this round join earlier Angel investor and founder of Zoopla, Alex Chesterman.

Stephan Morais, Executive Director of Caixa Capital said: “Uniplaces is yet another great example that innovation is happening all over the world. We are proud investors in the team and believe that the company will become the clear global market leader in serving students´ needs. Uniplaces rightly joins other Portuguese based companies that are conquering global markets and we welcome them to our global portfolio.”

Mattias Ljungman, Partner at Atomico said: “Uniplaces is solving a major pain point among students everywhere. 160 million young people in higher education are looking for a better way to manage their university housing experience. It is great to see this team from Lisbon that's rethinking the overall student experience, starting with housing.”

Ben Grech, Cofounder of Uniplaces, said: “We are committed to transforming the student experience. We started by helping students manage their accommodation, but this is just the beginning of what we can do for students around the world. It all comes down to making their university experience easier and more enjoyable. This new funding will help us reach that vision.”

Miguel Amaro, Cofounder of Uniplaces, said: “Our aim has been to make an overwhelmingly difficult process usually steeped in bureaucracy, filled with all kinds of obstacles like outdated ads, misleading information, schemes and scams streamlined and modern, by taking it online. It’s the best way to serve an increasingly mobile student population.”

Rebecca Hunt, Investment Director, Octopus Ventures, said, "We have believed in the team at Uniplaces right from the start, and we are really proud to be able to continue to support the business for a third time in this latest round. Uniplaces is an exciting, fast growth business tackling a huge and growing market in the global student market. We're delighted to welcome Atomico to the Board and look forward to working with them and the team to continue growing the business."

Caixadirecta

Caixadirecta

Atomico and Caixa Capital invest in Uniplaces

Uniplaces raises $24 million to support continuous growth in a rapidly expanding market.