Blueground, a real estate technology company, announced it raised $20 million in funding from a group of investors including New York City-based entrepreneur Kevin Ryan — who is joining the company’s board of directors. Ryan is known for launching several successful businesses including Business Insider, MongoDB, Gilt Groupe, and Zola.com. And Ryan also served as CEO of DoubleClick before Google bought the company for $3.1 billion in 2007.
What does Blueground do? Blueground also recently announced a major milestone, which is that they tripled annual revenue on a yearly basis over the last three years. And the company compiled a portfolio of more than 1,800 apartments across New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Dubai, Istanbul, and Athens.
Founded by Alex Chatzieleftheriou (CEO), Alexis Maragkos (Sales and Strategic Partnerships), Andreas Nezeritis (Head of Business Development), Aneesa Arshad (VP of Enterprise Sales), Kurtuluş Cumhur Korkmaz (chief product officer), Penny Papakonstantinou (Head of Operations), Blueground carefully selects and leases ideally located properties. Then the company fully furnishes the properties.
“Renting an apartment can be a tedious and time-consuming process. You need to deal with a number of frustrating activities, from filling out paperwork to furnishing the apartment. With Blueground, the renting experience becomes efficient, streamlined, and seamless. And for business guests, we’re providing a more spacious, lower cost alternative to a hotel,” said Chatzieleftheriou. “This capital will move us closer to our goal of leasing 50,000 apartments globally within the next five years. It will also allow us to elevate the seamless experience we’re providing landlords and guests, while cultivating a work environment that attracts the best and brightest talent.”
Including this round, Blueground has raised $28 million to date. Some of the venture capital firms that have supported Blueground so far are VentureFriends, Endeavor Catalyst, and Jabbar Internet Group.
“Blueground provides a product that speaks to a human need in an increasingly mobile business world. The team has a clear vision of where they want to go, in a market with significant growth potential. After meeting Alex and the team, I am convinced of the potential of Blueground and excited to be an investor and a member of the Board,” added Ryan.
