Dwelly has announced its ninth acquisition of the year – and again it’s a small independent.

It’s purchased London agency Shaws, and adds sone 250 fully managed properties to its 14,000 unit portfolio.

Established in 1994, Shaws handles sales and lettings across Kensington, West Kensington, Barons Court, Hammersmith and Fulham.

Dwelly says its focus will be on preserving “the people, culture and local expertise that have made Shaws successful” whilst strengthening the infrastructure through AI technology and streamlined processes.

The departing chief executive of Shaws, John Reed,says the deal “gives us access to industry-leading technology and operational support whilst allowing us to continue delivering the local service and expertise that our landlords and tenants know us for.”

Founded by Ilia Drozdov, Dan Lifshits, and Dmitry Khanukov – former senior leaders at Uber and Gett – Dwelly says it combines AI-driven automation with local expertise “to deliver faster, smarter and more efficient lettings operations.”

The company’s model centres on acquiring independent agencies and providing them with technology to cut workload, shorten time-to-let, and improve maintenance resolution times by up to 40%.