The most recent casualty in the proptech realm is Zeus Living, a startup backed by Airbnb. According to reports from The Information, the company is in the process of “winding down operations.” TechCrunch has attempted to reach out to Zeus Living for a comment but has not received a response as of now.
Zeus Living had secured $150 million in debt and equity, with about $125 million of that being equity. Apart from Airbnb, its backers included Initialized Capital, CEAS Investments, TI Platform, NFX, Opendoor’s Eric Wu, and Y Combinator.
Established in 2015, Zeus Living initially focused on redecorating landlords’ homes and renting furnished properties, primarily targeting relocated workers for 30-day stays or longer. Over time, it shifted its focus to provide more flexibility to a broader audience beyond corporate employees, allowing people to move around with less commitment. The company differentiated itself by directly managing the homes it offered, handling everything from curation and design to property management and services.
In October 2021, when Zeus secured $55 million in funding, CEO and co-founder Kulveer Taggar mentioned that the capital would be used to expand its portfolio of homes. At that point, the company was benefiting from the remote work trend spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, rising interest rates, reaching the highest levels in two decades, posed challenges for companies like Zeus, making it more difficult and costly to acquire homes and impacting their revenue. According to reports, the company informed landlords in an email on Monday that it was facing financial struggles and would no longer be able to make payments on homes.
Airbnb had invested in Zeus Living during its $55 million Series B round in 2019, when the company had achieved a $100 million revenue run rate and was valued at $205 million.
On a contrasting note, Anyplace, another startup in the flexible living space, is experiencing growth and recently secured $8.27 million in Series B funding.
