Four European proptech firms closed a merger in October 2021, creating a new parent called Innovate Lettings. The deal combined Spotahome, a Madrid-based mid-term rental platform founded in 2014, with student accommodation specialist Erasmusu, property management software provider Cleo, and rental operator Sham. Innovate Lettings launched that month as the holding structure for all four brands. The combined portfolio claimed more than 100,000 properties across 100 cities. Alejandro Artacho, previously Spotahome's CEO, took the same role at the parent.
The Corporate Structure Was a Holding Company, Not a Merger of Equals
The four businesses did not collapse into a single operating entity. They formed Innovate Lettings as a parent, with each brand continuing under its own name. Back-office functions, funding strategy and expansion planning sat at the group level. The distinct market positions stayed intact.
Spotahome served professionals and relocators with mid-term rentals. Erasmusu concentrated on student accommodation, a segment with different seasonality, pricing and regulation. Cleo supplied the property management software layer. Sham handled operational rental management. The holding structure let each brand keep serving its specific customers without a single identity confusing the market.
The Strategic Problem Was Fragmentation in the Mid-Term Rental Market
Europe's mid-term rental sector was deeply fragmented. Platforms typically operated in one or two countries and specialised in either student housing, professional relocations or short-term lets. Nobody had the scale to negotiate with large property owners, fund technology development or build the operational infrastructure for cross-border moves.
Combining four complementary specialists aimed to create a single platform handling a tenant's entire rental lifecycle. A student on Erasmusu could later use Spotahome when relocating for a job. Property owners could run units through Cleo and hand day-to-day operations to Sham, all inside one corporate group. The consolidation targeted customer acquisition cost, the biggest expense for rental platforms, by cross-selling across the existing user bases.
The Founding Teams Took Defined Roles in the Combined Entity
Alejandro Artacho, who had led Spotahome since 2014, became CEO of Innovate Lettings. The other three founders took specific roles inside the new structure. Exact titles and responsibilities were not disclosed when the deal was announced. The arrangement kept each founding team's expertise available while giving Artacho overall strategic control. Spotahome's position as the largest of the four by property count and geographic reach drove that decision. It had operated since 2014 and raised venture capital from investors including Seaya Ventures, giving it a more developed corporate structure than the others at the time of the merger.
The Combined Portfolio Covered 100 Cities, Mostly in Europe
Geographic spread
Innovate Lettings claimed more than 100,000 properties across 100 cities when the merger closed. The geographic focus was primarily Europe, where all four businesses operated. Spotahome held its strongest presence in Spain, Italy, France and Germany. Erasmusu covered university cities across the continent. Cleo and Sham operated mainly in Spain and Portugal.
What the number includes
The 100,000-property figure was the organisation's own claim and had not been independently audited. It combined platform listings with properties under management through Sham and Cleo. The inventory spanned individual rooms in shared apartments to entire buildings managed by institutional landlords. That scale made Innovate Lettings one of the larger mid-term rental operators in Europe, though it remained small next to global players like Airbnb or Booking.com.
The Individual Brands Were Maintained, Not Absorbed
The branding strategy was explicit from the start: each brand would continue operating under its own name. Spotahome stayed Spotahome. Erasmusu stayed Erasmusu. The parent, Innovate Lettings, was the only new name introduced. This approach differed from other proptech consolidations where acquired brands were gradually retired and replaced by the acquirer's identity. The decision signalled that the businesses believed their individual brand equity was valuable enough to preserve, and that cross-selling benefits could be achieved through backend integration rather than a single consumer-facing name.
Whether any individual brand has since been retired or fully absorbed is not established here. The available information covers only the deal's announcement and the immediate plans stated at that time.
What the Merger Did Not Disclose
Missing financial details
The deal announcement omitted the merged entity's exact valuation, the equity split between shareholders, and total headcount. Combined funding to date and key investors were also absent. These gaps made it difficult to assess the financial terms or the relative value each business brought to the combination.
What happened next is unknown
Innovate Lettings launched and the merger completed in October 2021. The position since that date is not established. The organisation may have raised additional funding, changed strategy or absorbed the brands into a single operating entity. None of that information is available from the deal's announcement, which remains the only source.
