Zurich, December 15, 2022 – In just five years, Houzy has built the leading homeownership ecosystem in Switzerland. Recently, strategic partners Baloise and UBS increased their stake and intensified their partnership. Houzy CEO Marco Kobelt, who safely led the startup through its growth phase and is now stepping down for personal reasons, closely accompanied the financing round. He hands over to Florian Rüegg, who founded Houzy with Claude Dütschler, Marco Kobelt, Stefan Schärer, Matthias Frieden and André Bachmann.
It all started with the prototype for a digital renovation calculator, with which the founders tested their vision "We make homeownership easy" at the end of 2017. The reactions were positive, so Houzy developed the first interactive renovation calculator, which was launched in October 2018. Since then, the PropTech startup has developed and launched innovative online tools for the entire lifecycle of properties (buying - living - selling). For example
When Marco Kobelt took over as CEO from Stefan Schärer at the beginning of 2021, Houzy had just under 30,000 users. Two years later, there are around 120,000 homeowners or prospective buyers who have digitally recorded over 170,000 houses and apartments. Kobelt and his team have accelerated user growth and stabilized it at a high level, as well as establishing and expanding the network of craftsmen and brokers. Marco is now moving back to Costa Rica, where he grew up, but will continue to support Houzy on strategic issues and future projects.
Houzy has found an internal solution for Kobelt's successor: Florian Rüegg, who was responsible for the platform and day-to-day business as CTO and COO, will take over as CEO. In addition, the advisory board promoted the two long-standing marketing managers Alina Jahn and Nicolas Steiner to the management board.
Rüegg joined Houzy in spring 2018 and studied Computer Science (Bachelor) and Business Information Systems (Master) at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. He remains responsible for the day-to-day business and the platform, but will delegate many tasks to his strong team. The startup with four founders has grown into a company with 40 employees and two strong strategic partners.
After five years, Houzy has come a big step closer to its vision "We make homeownership easy." However, there is still work to be done. The startup will develop new offerings and services for homeowners and network partners, optimize its processes and strengthen personal consulting. The declared goal is to expand its position as the most innovative platform for homeownership in Switzerland and the clear number one.
The property market and homeownership are not yet fully digitized. Since 2017, Houzy has laid the foundation to digitally map the homeowner journey "buying - living - selling". But there is still work to be done. Rüegg is aware of this:
«We want to support and accompany homeowners with a 360-degree approach on our platform», says the new Houzy CEO, «so we make homeownership easier.» As in the first five years, Houzy can count on the extraordinary commitment of all its employees, the commitment of its strategic partners and a great deal of perseverance.
Media Contact
Nico Steiner
Marketing Lead
