Skip to main content

Dwelly

Category: AI in Real Estate / PropTech

An AI-enabled lettings and property management marketplace that acquires independent UK letting agencies and integrates proprietary AI automation to digitize the entire rental lifecycle from tenant matching to maintenance coordination. Dwelly was founded in 2023. The company is led by Ilya Drozdov. Based in London, United Kingdom. Team size: ~300. Total funding raised: $93.0M. Latest round: Series A (£32.0M equity, Feb 2026). Key investors include ["General Catalyst","Begin Capital","S16VC","Trinity Capital"].

Founded
2023
Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Team size
~300
Total funding
$93.0M

Value proposition

Transforms traditional letting agencies into tech-enabled digital platforms within 2 months, delivering 3x margin improvement through AI automation of tenant onboarding, rent collection, maintenance coordination, and compliance tracking while reducing letting times by 33% and maintenance resolution times by 60%.

Products and solutions

["AI-Powered Tenant Matching & Onboarding System","24/7 Automated Tenant Chatbot Platform","Banking-Level KYC & Compliance Automation","Automated Rent Collection & Arrears Management","AI-Driven Maintenance Coordination System","Digital Self-Service Tenant Portal","Automated Compliance Tracking & Documentation","Agency Acquisition & Integration Platform"]

Unique value

Combines a roll-up acquisition strategy with proprietary AI operating system deployment, achieving 8x verified offers per property versus industry standard of 1-2, reducing tenant placement from 3 weeks to under 2 days, and enabling 100% automated compliance with zero manual intervention.

Target customer

Independent UK letting agency owners seeking exit opportunities; landlords requiring efficient property management; tenants seeking streamlined rental experiences

Industries served

["Property Technology (PropTech)","Real Estate Lettings & Management","Artificial Intelligence & Automation","Financial Services (Rent Collection)"]

Technology advantage

End-to-end AI automation covering tenant communication (24/7 chatbots), background verification (banking-level KYC, Right to Rent checks), rent collection (auto-reconciled Direct Debit), maintenance coordination (automated request triage with 20-day resolution versus 50-day industry average), and dynamic pricing optimization—delivering 2x operating profit margins compared to traditional agencies.

How they differentiate

Unique AI-native roll-up strategy acquiring independent agencies and deploying proprietary AI operating system, unlike pure SaaS competitors. Achieves 8x more verified offers per property, 60% faster maintenance resolution, 3x margin improvement within 2 months of integration through end-to-end automation including 24/7 chatbots, automated compliance, and dynamic pricing optimization.

Main competitors

["Goodlord","OpenRent","Traditional UK Lettings Agencies"]

Key partnerships

["General Catalyst (Lead investor, £32M equity round)","Begin Capital (Equity investor)","S16VC (Equity investor)","Trinity Capital (Debt facility provider, $50M growth capital)"]

Notable customers

["10,000+ independent landlords","Tenants across UK rental properties","10+ acquired independent letting agencies (incl. Brookdale, Goodwin, Eden Harper)"]

Major milestones

["Founded 2023 by former Uber, Gett, and McKinsey executives","First agency acquisition completed in 2024","Reached 10,000 properties under management by Feb 2026","Achieved top-15 UK letting agency ranking in <2 years","Secured £69M ($93M) combined equity and debt financing in Feb 2026","Completed 10+ agency acquisitions by Feb 2026 (Fortune)","Completed 3 acquisitions in first 4 months of 2026 (Brookdale, Goodwin, Eden Harper)","First London acquisition (Eden Harper, April 2026)","Integrated proprietary AI platform delivering 3x margin improvement"]

Growth metrics

10,000+ properties under management (reached in <2 years), top-15 UK letting agency status, £200M+ gross rent managed annually, 10+ agency acquisitions completed by Feb 2026 (Fortune), 3 additional acquisitions in early 2026 (Brookdale, Goodwin, Eden Harper), first London market entry (Eden Harper, April 2026), ~300 employees across operations

Market positioning

Tech-enabled consolidator targeting highly fragmented £100B UK lettings market through acquisition and AI transformation of independent agencies. Positioned as hybrid between traditional agencies and pure SaaS platforms, owning and operating acquired agencies rather than just providing software.

Geographic focus

United Kingdom (current focus), with planned expansion to Western Europe (France likely first market) and eventual United States entry

Patents and IP

No registered patents publicly disclosed as of latest update

About Ilya Drozdov

Former General Manager at Uber (Russia/Continental Europe, 2014-2018), where he scaled Uber Russia operations. Previously co-founded and exited a tech-enabled rental agency in Eastern Europe that scaled to 10,000 apartments and £50M GMV. Serial entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in technology, mobility, and real estate sectors.

Official website: