Danish co-living start-up LifeX has raised €6 million ($7.1 million) to accelerate its European expansion. The company has received a total of €15 million in pre-Series A funding, according to PlaceTech.
LifeX operates 65 co-living apartments for 300+ members in six European cities – Copenhagen, Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Munich, and London.
Most of the furnished apartments are between 3,000-3,700 sq ft and include shared spaces like a living room and kitchen and private spaces consisting of single rooms or couple rooms. Each apartment can accommodate 4-8 people depending on its size.
LifeX’s business model has proved to be resilient despite the pandemic, which has enabled it to attract additional capital. Investors’ appetite for hospitality companies with solid business models remains strong. Companies like Node, Munich’s Limehome, Mexico’s Casai, and Common have all received new funding in 2020.
Founded in 2017, LifeX is tackling both the challenges of finding a home and a social network. One of its key goals is to address loneliness, an issue faced by many Millenials which has been exacerbated by Covid-19.
“We have been focusing on our community of members, which is the essence of LifeX. It was really important for us to remain approachable and reactive during these unprecedented times. We were due to release a new feature in our LifeX app, which aimed to enhance communication with our members. We identified the need to accelerate development of this feature and released it during the lockdown period, allowing us to maintain a closer line of communication with our members,” CEO Sune Theodorsen explained.
Theodorsen is bullish on co-living. “I think what we do has only become more relevant. Co-living is not just a trend, it is here to stay and will continue to grow. With the way we work shifting to a more remote model, the time and care we spend curating our living spaces and community has become a great asset for us as well as increasingly attractive for our members.”
The funding round was led by Copenhagen-based startup studio Founders and Cherry Ventures, a Berlin-based VC fund.
photo credit: lifex