INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A marketplace for longer-term corporate housing could be a huge business, but rather than build that itself, Airbnb is making a strategic
investment in one of the market leaders called Zeus Living, which will list its homes on the Airbnb site.In just four years of redecorating
It boosted revenue 300% in 2019, and now has 250 employees and more than 2,000 homes under management
Zeus makes money by charging landlords one free month of usage, and marking up the rent charged to customers
It could rent out a $4,000 per month home for $5,000 plus take the extra month to earn $16,000 in a year.Zeus CEO and co-founder Kulveer
for a total of 650,000 nights.Strong margins, swift momentum and that megatrend of more mobile workforces have earned Zeus Living a new $55
The funding comes from Airbnb, Comcast, CEAS Investments and TI Platform Management, plus existing investors Alumni Ventures Group,
Initialized Capital, NFX and Spike Ventures
efficiency wins in a space with many competitors
Corporate needs are longer term, consistent and predictable, and partnering with Airbnb strengthens this approach as they expand to build a
led by Initialized, as well as $10 million in debt to cover taking on properties in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York,
Brex, Disney, ServiceTitan and Samsara.Push-button housingInstead of moving into a bland corporate housing block, struggling to find a place
themselves or ending up in expensive long-term Airbnbs, workers moving to new cities can go to Zeus
It takes over apartments, handles maintenance and fills them with branded comforts like Parachute bedding and Helix mattresses that Zeus
The startup is betting that as workers move between jobs and cities more frequently, fewer will own furniture and instead look for furnished
homes like those Zeus offers.Thanks to the premium stays it provides, Zeus can charge clients a lucrative rate, while Taggar claims his
service is still about half the price of standard corporate housing
For property owners, Zeus makes it easy to get a consistent rent paycheck with none of the traditional landlord work
Its goal is to get the first renters in within 10 days of taking on a property.The new funding will help Zeus expand to more neighborhoods
and cities while retaining a focus on breadth within each market so clients have plenty of homes from which to choose
The startup will be revamping its booking and invoicing tools for enterprise partners, and improving how it sources real estate
Meanwhile, it will be investing in customer care to maintain its high 70s NPS scores so relocated workers brag to their colleagues about how
After moving to the U.S., he built and sold Y Combinator-backed auction tool Auctomatic with co-founder and future Stripe starter Patrick
It was while working on NFC-triggered task launcher Tagstand that Taggar recognized the hassle of both finding new corporate housing and
With Uber, Stripe and more startups growing huge by simplifying processes that move a lot of money around, he was inspired to do the same
Airbnb can help Zeus drive demand thanks to all its inbound traffic, while Zeus offers Airbnb more supply for customers seeking longer
And now with more funding, there will be added scrutiny regarding its margins, especially in the wake of the WeWork implosion.Taggar
markets to ensure regulatory compliance and push for more conducive laws around 30-day (or longer) rental stays.Property tech has become a
heated space, though, so Zeus will have heavy competition
million-funded Domio and juggernaut Sonder, which has raised a whopping $360 million
Zeus might also see its model copied abroad before it can get there
Over time, landlords and real estate investment trusts like Blackstone could force Zeus, Sonder and others to compete to pay them the most
giant over corporate housing
Instead, Airbnb could keep investing to coin off this adjacent market while listing Zeus properties, or potentially acquired the startup one
