TULU Raises $20M To Offer Home Product Rentals To Apartment Dwellers

Israel’s TULU, a startup that developed a tech platform that provides building tenants with on-demand rental access to high-quality home products, closed a $20 million Series A funding round, TechCrunch reported last week.

The round was led by investment firm VC New Era Capital Partners, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Kärcher New Venture, and RoundHill Ventures alongside contributions from Tal Ventures, AGP Venture Company, Ground Up Ventures, i3 Equity Partners, and Good Company. 

Founded in 2018 by Israeli entrepreneurs Yishai Lehavi and Yael Shemer, TULU aims to restructure the way building residents access and rent household and lifestyle products such as brand name appliances, home improvement equipment, and entertainment devices to reduce waste and the cost of living in urban settings. TULU’s mobile app lists available supplies in nearby storage units equipped with IoT devices that track the usage of a product, enabling tenants to know the exact availability status of any particular item in real-time. Units are customized to each building’s needs and core tenant base. 

The new funding will allow Tulu to pursue new partnerships with landlords and brands, to reach 1,000 buildings in existing and additional markets, according to TechCrunch.

Since the platform’s launch in 2019, TULU has said it has addressed the household needs of more than 50,000 people across 15 cities in the US, UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Israel. The platform is used by a number of prominent landlords such as Greystar Real Estate Partners, Brookfield Asset Management, Invesco, Round Hill Capital, RXR Realty, and CA Ventures. 

“The idea behind TULU is simple – it doesn’t make sense for everyone to own a drill, vacuum, e-scooter or even printer. We created the platform to give urban dwellers the choice to live a minimal, sustainable and affordable lifestyle, a rarity in traditionally small urban apartments,” TULU’s chief customer officer and co-founder Yael Shemer said in a statement, “TULU’s unique technology provides easy and efficient access to home products tenants want access to, without the cost and hassle of ownership. We are excited for the opportunity to rethink traditional consumerism and continue creating sustainable and accessible amenity services.”

“TULU is becoming a leading vehicle in a fundamental shift in consumption paradigms, transitioning from an acquisition model to an on-demand model,” TULU’s CEO co-founder Yishai Lehavi added. “Our platform eliminates the distance between the end-users and the products, providing the products as a last foot service, right where people live, work and play – buildings.”