US: Starcity, a San Francisco-based coliving company, has raised $30 million in a Series B funding round.
Starcity has around 500 beds in operation across San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles, with a current committed development pipeline of approximately 2,000 units.
Its 45-person team spans multiple disciplines including real estate, technology, design, and hospitality with employees from companies including Airbnb, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, Fairmont Hotels, FivePoint, Google, Tesla, Lyft, SoulCycle, The Standard, and Uber.
Starcity says its approach is different from other groups in the coliving space: “We are set up as both a general partner and operator with full-stack real estate development, design, and management capabilities. We love working on all aspects of design to maintain a keen focus on project details, and we enjoy having skin in the game when the opportunity presents itself.
“The spiraling cost of living in US cities is one of the great challenges of our generation, exacerbating income inequality and political divides,” said Jared Friedman, a partner at Y Combinator, which took part in the funding round. “Starcity’s communities make expensive cities with great jobs accessible to more people, and we’re proud to support this important work.”
In the wake of the coronavirus, Starcity has had to make some sudden changes to its model to accommodate the needs of its tenants. Cofounder and CEO Jon Dishotsky said that the company has waived all termination fees and is working on a payment relief program.
