Claiming adoption by close to half of all millennials searching for apartments in Los Angeles, rental search app RadPad announced that it’s raised an additional $1 million in funding.
Both new and existing investors contributed to the funding round, including Deep Fork Capital, Post Investments, Michael Huffington, and Brian Lee (BAM Ventures & Honest Co.), RadPad said.
RadPad, which had previously raised a total of $1 million in seed funding, told the Los Angeles Business Journal that it will use the cash to grow its footprint in other rental markets, and plans to soon offer services for filing applications and leases.
According to RadPad, the app’s rich mobile experience has helped it quickly expand its user base since it launched in January 2013. It offers functionality including a touch-and-swipe interface and a text-messaging feature that lets renters quickly communicate with property owners.
“I believe our hyperfocus on mobile, photos, transparency and breaking down all the friction renters hate about the process of renting has really contributed to why renters dig RadPad,” said RadPad CEO Jonathan Eppers.
Twenty percent of people looking to rent in Los Angeles now use RadPad, the company said. RadPad said it’s particularly popular among millennials and women.
Forty percent of prospective renters aged 34 or younger use the site, and about two-thirds of its users are women, according to RadPad.
If RadPad branches out from Los Angeles, it’ll face national competition from rental marketplaces including Apartments.com, Apartment List, Zillow-owned HotPads and Trulia’s rental marketplace.
It’ll also vie with RentHop, another rental startup that has plans to expand nationally.