Goodlord builds acquisition fund with £27m of growth capital
Goodlord, a property technology company transforming the way people rent, has raised £27m in its latest investment round, led by Highland Europe and supported by Columbia Lake Partners, Finch Capital, Latitude, and Oxx. Goodlord will use the investment to accelerate its ambitious growth plans, including potential acquisitions in the UK and beyond.
Goodlord has grown rapidly, with revenues more than doubling over 2021. Its software and services have supported more than 1 million landlords and tenants throughout the UK and its proprietary platform processes over £1bn in payments annually. Following the investment round, Laurence Garrett, Partner at Highland Europe, will join Goodlord’s board to help the company capitalise on its rapid growth in the last year and continue improving the lettings sector for agents, landlords and tenants.
Highland Europe specialises in supporting scale-ups in making acquisitions to fast-track their product development. The European firm’s investments include WeTransfer, Modulr, Supermetrics, Plentific, Reachdesk, and Huel.
Columbia Lake Partners has also committed £12m of growth capital to Goodlord, with the round led by investment director Daniel Bull. Columbia Lake Partners has backed other high growth technology companies such as Mews, Factorial, Dixa, and Contentsquare.
Goodlord was founded in 2014 with a mission to simplify the complex lettings process for everyone involved – letting agents, landlords, and tenants alike. Its cloud-based platform means the entire process of letting a home – from referencing to contract generation – can be managed through a single interface.
The property technology company plans to use the funding to grow its portfolio of products, services, and integrations through strategic acquisitions to provide more value to the UK’s growing private rental sector of more than 10 million households. Goodlord will also be increasing the size of its product and engineering team, including launching its own tech academy to support the career development of entry-level developers through mentoring and work experience.
This continues Goodlord’s track record of product development and acquisitions. The company has continuously expanded its product offering through its platform to further streamline the lettings process, including insurances, utility switching and void management, as well as rent collection. In 2020, Goodlord acquired referencing platform Vouch, and in 2021, it bought the bill splitting app Acasa.
Goodlord now employs more than 300 people in the UK and, as part of this investment, the option pool will be expanded so that all of its team can share in its success.
Serial entrepreneur William Reeve (co-founder of LOVEFiLM, founding director of Zoopla) took the helm as CEO in early 2018, leading the company through two previous investment rounds.
William Reeve, CEO at Goodlord, comments: “As we continue on our mission to build the best rental experience in the world, bringing Highland Europe and Columbia Lake Partners on board as investors is fantastic news for Goodlord and the rental sector. About one in five people in the UK now live in the private rented sector, supported by millions more private landlords and lettings professionals, making our mission just as important today as it was when Goodlord began.
“Thanks to the backing and expertise of Highland Europe and Columbia Lake Partners, we can accelerate the build out of our product through more acquisitions and, ultimately, support even more tenants, landlords, and letting agents.”
Laurence Garrett, partner at Highland Europe, comments: “Renting a property was once a complex, stressful transaction mired in paperwork and obscure fees for all parties. Goodlord’s software has completely transformed the experience, simplifying and streamlining each transaction and reducing the time taken to agree a rental to minutes, rather than weeks. With the private rental market projected to continue to grow, Goodlord’s software has the potential to improve the lives of millions of people.
“I’m looking forward to working closely with William and joining this highly experienced board to help guide the Goodlord team as it expands its reach throughout the UK, both through organic growth and strategic acquisitions.”
Daniel Bull, investment director at CLP, comments: “Since we first began speaking to the team in 2020 we could see that Goodlord had a clear vision for improving the way agents, landlords, and tenants interact. Since that time they’ve executed on that vision, and we’re excited to be a part of their continued growth story going forward.”
