Senior staff from digital giants Samsung and Google have joined the Rentify online lettings agency as it continues what it calls its mission of shaking up the dysfunctional and antiquated estate agency sector.
Rentify currently claims a customer base of 160,000 landlords, a figure it says is growing at an average of 10,000 a month. Its publicity material now describes it as one of the UK's largest tech-driven letting agents.
Francisco Van Zeller, former head of digital marketing at Samsung, has now become the agency's chief marketing officer while Roxanna Zea, former head of strategy and initiatives at Google Europe, Middle East and Africa, joins Rentify as chief operating officer.
Van Zeller says Rentify is "a fantastic opportunity to disrupt the archaic lettings industry.
George Spencer - Rentify's 28-year-old founder - says the appointments add pressure on what he describes as the outdated high street lettings market. He says: We're proud that our team comes from a technology background and that we aren't just a bunch of estate agents masquerading as digital experts. Estate agents have proved time and time again that they cannot offer a compelling product for landlords or tenants."
He says Rentify has so far raised a total of £6.6m in seed and venture capital funding.
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Comments
Well as a landlord it seems they are being over optimistic, I do however do use rentdirectuk.co.uk
Oh No ! Not another on-line letting agent threatening to destabilise the status quo!
I have worked in this industry since the founder of Rentify was just 3 years old and I have seen this kind of thing come and go countless times. I may be old fashioned in my opinions but there is nothing better for a Landlord to speak to an agent who has had up close and personal experience of their managed property by visiting it to carry out inspections, inventories etc. These people start these businesses on the basis that Landlords want to let their properties. Well with supply and demand being what it is, that's the easy bit. The hard bit is managing the tenancy professionally.
Also their fees seem a bit high 99 to list on Rightmove