Housr raises £7.5M to modernise student living across the UK and US

Manchester-founded student living platform Housr has raised £7.5 million in private financing to accelerate product innovation and expansion across the UK and US. The round includes backing from Ashta Capital and Juniper Equity, two Texas-based investment firms known for supporting high-growth operating companies, positioning the startup to reach 1 million students across both markets within 12 months.

Founded in 2021 by Harry Panter and Ben Clayton while studying at the University of Manchester, Housr has grown revenues by 186% year-on-year by modernizing student housing through technology. The company’s free-to-use app has become a digital ecosystem for student life, offering rentals, local deals, roommate-matching, and ride-sharing all in one place, creating an all-in-one student operating system with housing at the center.

“This financing is a powerful validation of our team’s vision and the measurable impact we’re having on the student rental industry,” said Harry Panter, co-founder and CEO of Housr. “The market is rapidly shifting towards demand for an all-in-one, student OS, with the home at the heart of everything, and our platform is uniquely positioned to capitalize on that demand.”

The new funding will drive product development, expand the firm’s team, and grow its geographic footprint across university markets in both countries. The US market presents significant opportunity, with approximately 4,000 universities nationwide and massive student populations concentrated in key states like Texas, which alone has between 750,000 to 1 million students.

Eric Priamo of Juniper Equity highlighted the scale of the opportunity: “The university market is massive, especially here in the US, but really globally, because that’s where Housr has the opportunity to go. There’s around 4,000 universities in the U.S, so just think about that. That population that Housr can go to and have engaging with the app, and just in Texas alone, there’s probably somewhere between 750,000 to a million students. There’s just a massive market here that you only need to capture a very, very small percentage for it to grow and be incredibly valuable.”

The platform’s integrated approach addresses fragmentation in the student housing market by consolidating multiple services into a single digital experience, positioning Housr to capture market share as students increasingly expect seamless, technology-driven solutions for accommodation and lifestyle needs during their university years.

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