EXCLUSIVE // The startup created this month announces a fundraising of 1.75 million euros.
French people are rushing to second homes. In 2020, there were 3.6 million second homes, according to Insee. A record. It is in this favorable context that the start-up Prello has just launched, pushed by a fundraising of 1.75 million euros from business angels and the fund Axeleo Capital.
“It’s a trend that’s been going on for several years, and which has accelerated with the health crisis, the rise of nomadism and the boom in teleworking,” says Ludovic de Jouvancourt, the founder of the start-up with Sébastien Gal. In concrete terms, Prello offers to buy a second home for up to eight people. They can be complete strangers that the start-up will recruit for you or friends who want to invest together.
“Smart calendar”
They are grouped together in an SCI (Société civile immobilière) and each owns one eighth of a house, or even more if the same person buys more shares. Each share is equivalent to 44 nights of occupancy.
This is the average time spent in second homes,” says the entrepreneur, who is also a real estate investor. Knowing that the average investment of each co-owner is 200,000 euros, if we manage to aggregate eight people, the value of the house is around 1.6 million euros.” In other words, a very nice house.
The start-up ensures equality between co-owners thanks to a “smart calendar”. Everyone benefits from both “classic” and “tense” nights (Bank Holidays, August, Christmas, New Year’s). The company is remunerated up to 8% on the value of the house, including the price of the property but also the renovation work and the furnishings that it takes care of.
Turnkey
The start-up is developing two acquisition models: connecting buyers with a real estate agency, or buying properties itself and reselling the shares. It is planning to raise debt to finance the acquisition of properties that will be put up for sale in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The start-up then takes care of the maintenance (cleaning, gardening, etc.), billed at cost price, and administrative tasks. It also provides assistance with financing through partnerships with a broker and banks. The service is designed to be “turnkey” and requires a monthly subscription of 99 euros per month from each co-owner.
Prello is not the only one to launch itself on this niche. French start-up Altacasa announced its arrival last week with a €2 million fundraising round. On the other side of the Atlantic, Pacaso launched in 2020 and became a unicorn within five months. “A lot of startups have tackled the primary residence and rental investment market. The second home had remained a poor relation. The dynamics around improving the quality of life helped put it back in the center of the game,” analyses the entrepreneur, who plans to recruit a dozen employees by the end of the year to expand his team of eight people.
