Berlin-based proptech startup Buena today has raised a $26.5m Series A round led by GV, the venture arm of Alphabet.
Cofounded by Din Bisevac and serial entrepreneur Moritz von Hase in 2022, Buena’s AI-powered platform aims to make property management simpler and more efficient, helping landlords and property owners handle tasks like tenant selection, rent calculation and accounting.
Harry Stebbings’ firm 20VC, Stride and Capnamic also participated in the round.
The company currently manages 60k units across Germany and reportedly has 5k landlords on its waitlist.
As part of its go-to-market strategy, Buena also acquires small, local property management firms — Germany has over 30,000 such firms, each employing an average of five people — and migrates them onto its platform to help them digitise. Since 2023, the startup has acquired 20 property management businesses.
Buena’s fundraise comes amid a surge of interest in AI rollup models across traditional service industries like accounting, financial advice and property management. Startups are increasingly acting like private equity firms, rolling up smaller businesses and adding an AI-driven software layer on top.
Analysts predict the rollup model will transform the $17trn services market within the next decade as businesses seek to digitise, adopt AI and grow more efficiently.
“When we first began acquiring property managers in 2023, people thought we were crazy. Today, AI-powered rollups are recognised as the future of service industries,” says Bisevac, Buena’s CEO and a coinitiator of Project Europe.
Venture capital firms like Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, 8VC and Bessemer Ventures are also exploring the PE-style strategy, investing in startups to help them roll up their rivals and produce one category-defining leader.
Buena plans to grow its 24-person team and expand to international markets like the US.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/buena-series-a/
