Dwelly Raises $170M to Turn UK Lettings Agencies into Software
July 28, 2026 – 1:07 pm
The London startup is buying independent lettings firms and folding them onto an AI platform, with EQT Growth leading the equity and Trinity Capital supplying the debt.
The UK lettings business still relies heavily on phone calls, paperwork, and manual processes like fixing boilers. Dwelly believes most of this can be automated through software.
The startup had raised $170 million in a Series B round, comprising $95 million in equity and a $75 million debt facility. It plans to use the funds to acquire independent lettings agencies and integrate them onto its AI platform.
General Catalyst, s16vc, Begin Capital, DVC, and a host of European AI angels participated in the funding round, alongside Philipp Freise, a partner at KKR.
Dwelly describes itself as an AI-native operating system for lettings and property management. Instead of simply aggregating agencies for scale, it acquires them directly and migrates their operations to its software, handling tasks such as tenant and landlord communication, maintenance coordination, rent collection, and compliance.
While consolidation is a trend in proptech, with deals like the $800 million acquisition of Zonda by CoStar, few competitors have attempted to buy agencies outright. Dwelly argues that its approach leads to increased productivity: it manages over 15,000 properties and a £350 million rent roll, claiming to be among the top ten UK agencies.
The company was founded by Ilya Drozdov, Dan Lifshits, and Dmitry Khanukov, who previously worked at Uber, Gett, and McKinsey before turning their attention to Britain’s rental market.
Drozdov, CEO of Dwelly, stated, “Dwelly is AI-first by default: we assume AI should be able to do every operational task.”
For tenants, the main promise is speed. Zeynep Yavuz-Willson from General Catalyst described Dwelly’s offering as "a question answered in seconds." However, the software must prove its worth beyond quick responses, particularly when it comes to automating tasks that have traditionally been difficult for AI to handle.
The fresh capital will be allocated towards platform development, further acquisitions, and expanding product offerings for landlords and tenants, including legal protection and rent guarantees.