Roam raises $3.3M seed for luxurious, flexible living

Like couchsurfing, except it comes with nice bedding and costs as much as rent in San Francisco

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Loved the idea behind Couchsurfing but didn’t think the experience was luxurious enough? Here’s a new way to live abroad for extended periods without having to sleep on a couch… if you can afford it.

Roam, a provider of subscription-based, communal living spaces, today announced that it has raised $3.3 million in seed funding led by CRV (formerly known as Charles River Ventures). The round also saw participation from Collaborative Fund, NextView, Corigin, and a long list of angel investors, including SoundCloud founder Eric Wahlforss, Anthemis Group founder Sean Park, and Teleport CEO Sten Tamkivi.

Unlike the Airbnb or Couchsurfing model where it’s individuals putting up their spaces for rent, Roam the company is playing host with communal spaces currently offered in Ubud (Bali), Miami, and Madrid. (Buenos Aires and London are "coming soon.") Beyond just a place to crash, however, Roam pitches its living spaces as full-fledged communities for people who don’t see themselves fitting in the “traditional 30-year fixed rate mortgage” lifestyle, as Roam co-founder Bruno Haid puts it.

In this sense, Roam does remind me of Couchsurfing, which likewise pitched itself beyond the couch: it was always supposed to be a community of like-minded individuals exploring the world and learning from each other.

The difference is that Roam is a guaranteed space to live, including private room and bathroom, Wi-Fi, and utilities. Not only that, but this is luxurious living: Roam outfits its beds with mattresses and bedding by Tuft & Needle and Parachute, respectively. And each of the communities comes with built-in co-working spaces, laundry facilities, and a shared kitchen space. Some of them include a shared pool, media room, library, and event spaces.

The other big difference is the price. This living experience, as you can likely imagine, doesn’t come cheap. Customers subscribing to Roam pay $500 per week or $1,800 per month (plus taxes) for a bedroom, which can be split by up to two people. That’s about how much you'll pay for a studio in San Francisco or New York today.

I’ve reached out to the company to confirm how many customers subscribe to Roam today, but they're not sharing those numbers at the moment.

“Roam has tremendous potential to innovate in global housing at a time when local infrastructure is limiting the evolution of housing and a generation of people are seeking global experiences more than ever before,” said Annie Kadavy, lead investor from CRV, in a prepared statement.

Besides speaking to the omnipresent problem of city housing, Kadavy points to the much bandied trend among millennials to prefer flexible lifestyles and experiences over settling down with their defined, material possessions.

Though a spokesperson for the company insists Roam is different, the newly funded service reminded me of WeLive, the shared living spaces launched by WeWork in New York last month. As with Roam, customers of WeLive pay a considerable subscription fee (starting at $1,375 per month for a bed or $2,550 for a private bedroom) to live in a well-furnished facility and community in Manhattan. WeLive is also catered to younger individuals seeking more flexible lifestyles.

Roam says it will use the new funding to grow its team, expand to new locations, and continue building out the product.