The co-founder behind student rental platform Housr has criticised the lack of support for those building and scaling “billion-dollar businesses” in the North – and revealed his plans to move to the US by the end of 2025.
As part of Prolific North’s deep dive into the future of Northern tech examining regional challenges and opportunities, Harry Panter shares why the US is key to his tech firm’s growth and global ambitions.
Three years ago, Housr set out its “ambitious plans” for its ‘Tinder’ style student housing app. Now, the platform has since pivoted towards a much clearer message of being the ‘home of student living’.
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“We’ve had major growth and are now the second largest student rental platform in the UK,” Harry Panter, co-founder of Housr, tells Prolific North.
“Back then, we were £0 in revenue. The following year we were pre-revenue, then we hit £20,000 last year with £3.5m in sales. By the end of this year, we should finish the year on £12m sales.”
The four keys to Housr’s success to date have included developing a ‘Housr economy’ to grow the platform as a marketplace, distribution, product investment and building the right team.
Prolific North has followed Housr’s journey from its early stages as an ambitious start-up with plans to make the house-hunting process as easy as going on Uber or Tinder for students. Now, business is booming. Around 40 staff are based at a much bigger office space at Department’s Bonded Warehouse in Manchester, plus an additional 20 staff are based near Nebraska over in the US.
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While many founders may argue a major challenge in the North might be access to investment, Panter has a different take. The real “problem”, at least in Manchester, is the limited support network for scaling businesses.
“There aren’t many major founders in Manchester, at least I don’t see them. In every network and every mixer that we’ve been to, you end up just seeing the same exact people and it seems no one’s actually progressing enough.
“In New York, I will be sat talking to someone doing £20m ARR or I’ll be the least impressive person in the room. That’s exactly what I want to be! You never want to be doing the best or growing the quickest in the room.”
READ MORE: Is a ‘start-up mentality’ in the UK holding back potential billion-dollar businesses in the North?
And he would much prefer to be the one asking the questions about success: “That’s how I need to grow. In the US, I’m a very small fish in a massive pond. And as much as I want to be and become the big fish, I wonder where these founders in Manchester or the North are hiding, is it because everyone is forced to go down to London or the US?
“It’s more of a mentality where we don’t really shout about ourselves enough, compared to America. I’m sure people are more than happy to say it’s not as fast-paced. And I want to be fast-paced.”
There needs to be a more “active start-up ecosystem” with businesses being more ambitious. “I’m building a billion-dollar business, one way or another,” he says adamantly.
“If others had that philosophy, it would attract more investment, so that the investment wouldn’t be a problem, it would attract more talent, so talent won’t be a problem. Better people equals better companies. Better companies equals more people and more money. It’s cyclical and we need someone to break it.”
Reflecting on these regional challenges, although Housr will remain headquartered in Manchester, Panter reveals he will personally be relocating to the US by the end of 2025.
And there’s plenty more plans in the pipeline. Housr is gearing up to launch its series A raise to fuel plans to expand the platform to 10 US colleges this year.
“We’re a cross-functional, cross-border, cross-Atlantic team. When I say I’m moving to the US, I’ll be spending more time in New York than I would in Manchester.
“Our future is in America, and the business is growing very quickly over there. Having me there, helping us accelerate that even more and being with the team on the ground, leading it from the front, will help us accelerate and maximise that growth, which is already there in the UK.”
