Dwelly, the AI-based proptech providing a marketplace platform for lettings and property management, has bought its third agency.

Its acquisition of established Suffolk firm Pennington for an undisclosed sum sees some 550 properties added to the Dwelly lettings book.

The estate agency was originally an offshoot of a local surveying firm established by Tony and Geraldine Pennington in 1989, but later founded as a standalone business by its two current directors.

Pennington’s sale means Dwelly now has some 2,000 properties of its own managed via its platform following two earlier acquisitions in September and December last year – Lime Properties in Hull and Colchester-based Gallant and Richardson.

Dwelly’s lettings and management platform is designed to improve the efficiency and overall experience for both tenants and landlords, with features that include an ability to process, analyse and rank tenant applications; promote and ensure compliance and predict tenant risk via faster applications.

Entrepreneurs

Dwelly was founded by (main image) Ilya Drozdov, Dan Lifshits, and Dmitry Khanukov, entrepreneurs with some 15 years’ experience working together in lettings tech and backgrounds working for Uber, McKinsey, and Gett.

“The decision to be acquired and who to choose isn’t one that comes lightly, but it soon become clear to us that Dwelly was by far the best option for our business not just in terms of the operational benefits and growth potential they provide, but also to ensure that the culture we’ve built continues to be nurtured,” says director Julian Pennington.

Working with Dwelly gives us the opportunity to modernise our operations and enhance the service we provide to both our landlords and tenants.”

“Working with Dwelly gives us the opportunity to modernise our operations and enhance the service we provide to both our landlords and tenants. Their approach to integrating technology into the lettings process will help us improve efficiency while still maintaining the values we’ve built over the years.”

Co-director Robert Ulph says: “This acquisition enables Pennington to evolve alongside an innovative leader in the property tech space.

“By combining our 30-plus years of expertise with Dwelly’s cutting-edge solutions, we’re confident we’ll continue to set the bar for excellence in the Ipswich market.”

Selective appraoch

Sam Humphreys, Head of M&A at Dwelly, adds: “We have continued to take an extremely selective approach when it comes to the businesses we acquire, and this allows us to honour the legacy of these independent business owners who have poured years of effort, care and investment into building market leading agencies within their respective local markets.

“These are businesses that have been nurtured and developed over years, or in Pennington’s case, decades, and you simply can’t replicate the company culture that is central to this success and so, when we do find it, we place a great deal of emphasis on maintaining it.”

Main image LtoR: Dan Lifshits, Ilya Drozdov, Dmitry Khanukov & Sam Humphreys.