Dwelly’s London Expansion: Securing €79.3 Million to Grow AI-Powered Rental Platform

Dwelly, a property management platform based in London, is on a mission to acquire and digitize independent letting agencies. The company has recently secured a total of €79.3 million (£69 million) in a combination of equity and debt funding to fuel its expansion throughout the UK.

This funding round includes a €36.8 million equity investment led by General Catalyst, with contributions from Begin Capital and S16VC, as well as a €42.55 million debt facility from Trinity Capital. This financial boost will enable Dwelly to continue its series of acquisitions in the highly fragmented UK service sector.

Established in 2024, Dwelly operates using an AI-driven rollup model, acquiring independent rental agencies and integrating them into a cohesive technology platform. The company’s goal is to streamline the entire letting process, from matching tenants with landlords to coordinating maintenance and optimizing pricing.

Addressing a Fragmented Market Worth £100 Billion

The UK rental market generates over €115 billion in rent roll and around €11.5 billion in annual commissions. Despite its size, the market is labor-intensive and complex. With approximately 20,000 firms operating nationwide, the top 100 firms manage less than 30% of the country’s 5.5 million rental properties.

In less than a year, Dwelly has acquired eight agencies across the UK and now oversees more than €230 million in gross merchandise value. The company prides itself on offering competitive valuations and transparent deal structures to agency owners while maintaining existing brands and client relationships post-acquisition.

Following each acquisition, Dwelly integrates its AI-powered operating system to automate key functions, reduce manual work, and standardize service quality. As the portfolio expands, the company leverages aggregated operational data to further enhance and refine its AI models.

“Having surpassed 10,000 properties under management, Dwelly has quickly become one of the UK’s top 15 largest letting agencies in under 2 years – a remarkable pace of growth for the industry. Our vision is to create a comprehensive platform that evolves into a fully transactional rental marketplace with a robust fintech layer for rent collection and additional products,” stated Ilya Drozdov, co-founder and CEO of Dwelly.

“AI is revolutionizing various industries, and the UK’s letting market is ripe for AI integration to simplify operations, enhance tenant satisfaction, and boost agent productivity. Dwelly harnesses AI to enhance agency performance and equip staff with intelligent tools, streamlining interactions among landlords, tenants, and agencies for improved efficiency and customer satisfaction,” explained Dan Lifshits, co-founder and CPO of Dwelly.

Revolutionizing Matchmaking and Maintenance Processes

Dwelly’s platform leverages AI across every stage of the rental journey. In addition to property listings, it facilitates background checks, contract signings, payments, maintenance management during tenancy, move-outs, and dynamic pricing adjustments.

According to Dwelly, its system enables applicants to generate an average of 10 validated offers per property, significantly higher than the one or two offers typically received through traditional agencies. The company also reports a 33% reduction in letting times, aiming to establish a transparent “best offer wins” model.

On the property management front, Dwelly implements 24/7 tenant chatbots, automated request categorization, and structured communication with maintenance providers. In a market where maintenance requests often take around 50 days to resolve, Dwelly claims to have already reduced this timeframe by 33%, with plans to further decrease it by over 70% as the system evolves.

“Dwelly is reshaping one of the UK’s most fragmented and operationally intensive service sectors into a modern, AI-driven system. Their platform converts numerous analog, agency-level processes into scalable software, enhancing tenant satisfaction, landlord economics, and agency efficiency simultaneously. We believe Dwelly’s deep industry knowledge, disciplined execution, and comprehensive AI architecture position the company to transform how rental markets operate. This aligns perfectly with General Catalyst’s commitment to supporting enduring, technology-driven transformations,” commented Zeynep Yavuz, Partner at General Catalyst.