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Not way back, I questioned whether or not startups might assist remedy the U.S. housing disaster. Now there’s a brand new title on the town: Airbnb spinout Samara, which simply secured contemporary funding. As for Dig, it acquired acquired not lengthy after I began digging into its class: knowledge safety posture administration. — Anna
The Airbnb playbook
With a scarcity of at the least 3.8 million dwellings, the U.S. housing disaster isn’t exhibiting many indicators of enchancment. Evaluating the scenario to what it was only one 12 months in the past, VC agency Gutter Capital famous that it even worsened in some respects — mainly, funding.
“[I]nvestor interest in the housing market, previously chilled, has frozen over,” managing companion James Gettinger wrote. “While rising interest rates were no match for the undersupply of housing, they were more than enough to scare away venture capital investors. We’ve been told by proptech funds that they only invest in software now. Regrettably, software can’t build homes.”
In distinction, Gutter Capital nonetheless stands by the thesis it phrased one 12 months in the past: “There is a historic opportunity today to invest in businesses that accelerate the development of housing in the United States.”