When Waitly started just three years ago, Tim and Morten didn’t expect the development to be so fast. In just three years, the company has managed to create a strong platform with +26,000 users and the company currently has 10 employees spread across three locations. An investor meeting with Keystones and Proptech Denmark led to an investment of DKK 2.5 million. – but several had bid.
Waitly initially focused exclusively on cooperative housing associations, but both users and partners showed early interest in expanding the platform. An expansion that has already begun. Today, you can also find waiting and interest lists for rental housing on waitly.dk In addition to rental housing, waiting lists for allotment gardens, sports clubs and boat moorings have also been in demand. The platform can technically accommodate all types of waiting lists. But this requires development and manpower, which is why the focus is currently only on rental and condominium housing.
So Waitly started looking for their first funding round, kickstarted by the fact that several people in Waitly’s network had already shown interest in investing in the company.
Over 20 interested and 6 million DKK up for grabs
In autumn 2021, Waitly was invited to a pitch event in collaboration with Proptech Denmark and Keystones. This really kick-started the process and Waitly was shortly after invited to another pitch event at DanBAN. This meant that by January 2022, Waitly had 20 people ready to invest.
Waitly was promised 250% more funding than they had originally planned. So Waitly could have closed a six million investment, but chose to go with the original target. An investment of 2.5 million.
“The great interest in our company allows us to be critical and select the investors who can best help us, in terms of. the situation we are in now, so it is not only their money but also their skills that will be valuable to Waitly”, says Tim Lykke Myhrvold, CEO and co-founder of Waitly.
Award-winning lead investor at the helm
The investor group consists of Per Andersen from Keystones, who over the last 2 years has made a name for himself as one of the most active proptech investors with about 10 investments. Recently he received the “Lead Angel of the Year” award.
In addition, Peter Troensegaard Jensen joins the board with experience from other SaaS platforms. Ian Winther-Høiland, one of Denmark’s youngest real estate investors, who in addition to his own residential portfolio, manage properties on behalf of others. Erik Munk, real estate investor in Denmark and Germany. Michael Bjørnlund, startup investor and EU lead at VC firm Rockstart. Thomas Boel Sigurdsson, software developer and co-founder of Omada, which was sold in 2018. Stian Hansen, co-founder and former CEO of To Good To Go.
Warming up to new markets
The money will be used for recruitment, allowing Waitly to enter the rental market in earnest. In addition, a lot of development will also be put into preparing the platform for new future markets – including the international market.
“Morten and I have put a lot of energy into Waitly, and we will continue to do so, because we believe in our product and can see the difference our platform has already made for home seekers, boards, management companies and landlords. We are proud of our success, but the most important thing for me is still that we have developed a platform that helps people in their everyday lives”, says Tim Lykke Myhrvold, CEO and co-founder of Waitly.