- Homeis, a digital platform for immigrant communities around the world, announced it raised $12 million in Series A led by Canaan and Spark Capital
Homeis — the digital platform for immigrant communities around the world — announced it raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Canaan and Spark Capital. Since the company launched in 2017, Homeis served hundreds of thousands of immigrants in its launched communities and is going to expand to serve all immigrant communities in the U.S. and around the world starting with Mexicans and other Latino communities in the U.S. in 2019.
As Homeis was founded by immigrants for immigrants, the company was built with the unique experience of being foreign-born at its core and believes in the positive power of immigration. With the Homeis app, users have access to social and utility based connections, from finding new friends, relationships and jobs, to recommendations for local services and events.
“Empowering immigrants is a personal mission, one which we believe is timely and important,” said Homeis co-founder and CEO Ran Harnevo. “We are thrilled to have the support of our investors and are committed to supporting immigrants wherever they are, making technology work for them, and fulfilling their very special needs.”
Homeis is also empowering foreign-born people to build communities around culture, shared experiences, and practical local knowledge. And each new user logs in and answers two simple questions: “what country are you from originally” and “where do you live right now.” Upon answering, the user is immediately welcomed into his or her community. And from there, users will be able to find a combination of social and utility resources such as opportunities to meet friends, chat and network, and find advice on how to find the right lawyers, doctors, or restaurants. All of the content is created and vetted by the community, based on its shared culture.
The Homeis platform also serves Indians, Israelis and French in the U.S. among other global communities. And Homeis is going to leverage the support of its investors to expand its reach. Homeis’ investors include Abstract VC, The Chernin Group, Samsung Next, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, AOL’s former CEO Tim Armstrong, and Taboola CEO Adam Singolda.
Harnevo had founded Homeis with CTO Hanan Lashover in 2017. The platform was built to serve and empower the 250 million immigrants around the world. Prior to launching Homeis, Harnevo and Lashover built the industry’s first online syndication platform called 5min Media (acquired by AOL). Following the acquisition, Harnevo became the Global President of AOL’s Video division and Lashover became CEO of Aol Israel.
