Bungalow

Bungalow is a residential real estate company that rents private bedrooms in shared, furnished homes as well as entire homes, marketed under the banner of "flexible living." Renters can book agent-led, self-guided or virtual tours, sign a lease in as little as 24 hours, choose lease lengths from four to 24 months, and select custom start and end dates. Shared homes come with common-area furniture, a smart TV, kitchen essentials, Wi-Fi and utilities already set up, and residents manage leases, maintenance requests and rent payments through a mobile app, with each roommate paying their own share directly. The company pre-screens residents through background, credit and income checks in line with local requirements and runs a Meet & Greet feature for prospective roommates to assess fit before moving in. A 30-day "Love Where You Live" trial allows residents to transfer to another available Bungalow home if the placement is not a fit, subject to terms.

As described by CNBC in January 2020, Bungalow did not own the homes it rented; it worked with landlords and placed each renter on a separate contract with Bungalow, so a single move-out did not eliminate rental income and the property never sat fully vacant. Executives said the model captured 40-50% higher rents than a single-tenant lease and averaged roughly 98% ongoing occupancy across the portfolio, with monthly member events run across properties. Bungalow also serves the supply side: it markets property management to homeowners through a homeowner portal showing rental income and occupancy, and offers Radar Powered by Bungalow, an offering to source, acquire, renovate and manage single-family rental (SFR) investments using in-house brokerage, renovation teams and property management.

Leadership listed on the company's About page includes Andrew Collins (CEO and co-founder), Kash Mathur (President and CFO), Mike Vinci (Head of Institutional Business Development), Nadeem Chaudhry (VP, Data), Drew Thomas (Head of Product) and Brandon Atkins (Senior Acquisitions Associate).

Founding story

According to CNBC, the concept came from co-founder and CEO Andrew Collins, who had moved frequently and struggled to find suitable living arrangements. A Dealmakers podcast profile describes Collins as raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, educated at Princeton (sociology and economics) and Wharton, with prior stints at Medallia, Facebook and Atomic; he observed that establishing friendships after relocating could take nine to 12 months, that housing affordability and loneliness were worsening, and that large homes in expensive cities were sitting vacant and hard to rent — leading to a model in which Bungalow acts as a corporate tenant leasing houses from homeowners, furnishing them and renting them by the room while building resident community.

Business model

Bungalow leases or manages residential properties on behalf of homeowners and re-rents them either by the room to individually contracted residents or as entire homes. Per CNBC, the company does not own homes; it works with landlords, and per-room letting produces aggregate rents above what the house would command from a single tenant, allowing Bungalow to offer homeowners a higher revenue stream while retaining a margin. It additionally sells property management and an end-to-end SFR investment service (Radar Powered by Bungalow) covering sourcing, acquisition, renovation and management.

Revenue derives from residential rents collected from residents on individual leases (with the spread over amounts paid to homeowners), plus resident fees: a stated $175 per month service fee covering Wi-Fi, smart TV, common-area furnishings and kitchen essentials, cleaning fees split among residents capped at $50 per person, and utilities. Homeowner-facing property management and SFR investment services are additional revenue lines.

Traction

CNBC reported in January 2020 that Bungalow averaged about 98% ongoing occupancy across its portfolio, captured 40-50% higher rents than single-tenant leases, operated in 11 markets, and that the CEO expected to scale to more than 12,000 residents by the end of 2020. The company's site states it has homes in 20+ cities and describes serving thousands of residents and homeowners nationwide, and claims best-in-class resident renewal rates. Forge Global lists $40.55M total funding and a $79.52M post-money valuation as of July 2025.

Latest developments

Forge Global reports four financing rounds all dated 2025-07-23 — Series 1 ($19.36M), Series 1A ($99,725), Series 1B ($6.09M) and Series 1C ($14.99M) — each at $0.05 per share and a $79.52M post-money valuation with undisclosed investors, and lists total funding to date of $40.55M. Forge notes Bungalow remains privately held and has not filed for an IPO. Current site materials emphasize the Radar Powered by Bungalow SFR investment offering and resident partnerships with Esusu and TheGuarantors.