Rental listings site Zumper raises $46 million in Series C round

Rental marketplace Zumper is raising $46 million in a Series C round of funding led by Axel Springer and Stereo Capital with participation from Blackstone, Dawn Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Breyer Capital, Goodwater Capital, and Xfund.

The company declined to reveal its new valuation, but Techcrunch previously reported following its $17.6 million Series B round in 2016 that it was worth north of $100 million. The latest round brings Zumper’s total funding to $90 million to date.

Zumper was founded in 2012, beginning life as a marketplace for renters to find apartments online. These days the company has expanded from that role, and now provides further assistance to renters and landlords that includes helping with lease signings.

Zumper is somewhat similar to Craigslist, albeit much prettier, in that it allows apartment hunters to search according to specific criteria. Users can then contact landlords directly through the site or app to express their interest and set up a viewing. As for landlords, they can post their listings free of charge and view incoming messages through the site. They can also screen applicants with credit and criminal background checks offered by Zumper.

Zumper also provides a full service offering wherein it only delivers pre-qualified and vetter renter applicants to landlords. This service now accounts for almost 50 percent of the company’s revenue,  CEO Anthemos Georgiades told Techcrunch.

Zumper is involved in a fierce fight with other rental platforms including Apartment List and Zillow. Still, it’s doing well, with more than 8 million unique visitors per month, and around one million listings posted on its platform.

With the new funds, Zumper said it’s hoping to hire around 50 new staff over the next six months. The company will also look to push a new feature on its website, which will be a booking transaction system similar to what Airbnb offers for very short-term rentals.

“There’s a lot of operational and product work required because no one has solved that problem in our space,” Georgiades told TechCrunch.

In future, Zumper also plans to add new features that will help facilitate monthly rental payments through its app.