Dongnae, a South Korea-based startup that helps tenants find premium apartment rentals, has closed $16.4 million (20 billion KRW) in equity and $4.1 million (5 billion KRW) in debt. The Series A funding brings its total funding raised to approximately $34 million (40 billion KRW). Investors include NFX, Daol Investment, Hana-Magna, Hana Financial, MetaProp, Fursys, Han River Partners, Flybridge and Maple. WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey also participated in the equity financing. Former WeWork executives Matthew Shampine, who previously served as managing director at WeWork Asia, and Insong Kim founded Dongnae in 2020. Dongnae says its first mission is to tackle South Korea’s unique residential rental system, called “Jeonse.” This rental contract allows tenants to rent an apartment at no (or little) monthly payment by putting up a large lump sum deposit that averages $600,000 (700 million KRW) in Seoul for a two-year lease. Dongnae FLEX provides curated premium apartment rentals that will lower typical renters’ housing deposits by approximately 98%.
Dongnae PLUS enables tenants to access home services, ranging from the appliance and furniture rentals to internet/cable and scheduled recurring. To provide a fully online experience, it offers 3D virtual tours of its units, powered by Matterport, and the renters can sign the lease via e-contract. With the Series A proceeds, the firm plans to accelerate geographic expansion across the Seoul metropolitan area, bolster its relationships with local brokerages and invest in technology and data to build out its proprietary tools for users. Dongnae will roll out the iOS and Android applications and home services marketplace this year.