Proptech firm Sonneil enters tourist rental sector with Beny4you acquisition

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

Sonneil, founded by the former Director of Solvia Alfredo Millá, specializes in the commercialization of luxury homes to foreign buyers, is expanding its business base.

The firm has just acquired the Beni-Beni company, Beni4you, which is engaged in intermediation to rent tourist apartments, especially in the area of ​​the Marina Baixa, with a marketing model similar to Sonneil and very supported by new technologies.

The CEO of Sonneil confirmed the operation to questions from Alicante Plaza, and advanced that they are finalizing a new signing to direct this new division of proptech, which has also been domiciled at pier 8 at the port of Alicante. Both the purchase of the company and its new registered office have been reflected in two inscriptions of the Official Gazette of the Commercial Registry. Sonneil's intention is to announce in the coming weeks, the signing of the new manager in charge of Beni4you, once it is closed, and the master lines of its new business.

Sonneil looks to incorporate the know-how and network of Beni4you, to expand its core and move from the search for foreign buyers for luxury homes on the coast, to tenants for those homes once they have been sold with this acquisition. According to Millá, "it is something that many buyers were asking us to find tenants to make their investment profitable in the seasons in which the houses are not occupied, although there are also owners who have acquired homes directly as an investment." In any case, the CEO of Sonneil warns that "the market is evolving towards that model, from the purchase to the rent". Its proptech has already made a partnership with Beni4you, and has now decided to go one step further with its acquisition.

The company of tourist apartments of Benidor origin, partner of the sector association Aptur, markets apartments for rent in several buildings of the city of skyscrapers (such as Edimar IX or Sunset Drive), but also in other nearby towns such as Calp or Dénia . In this sense, after its purchase by Sonneil, Beni4you already has apartments for rent in the two residential buildings built by the promoter of the founders of Goldcar, Alibuilding, in Calp: Calpe Beach I and II. In this way, apartments sold but empty can be rented for days or seasons. Apart from apartments, the Beni4you portfolio is completed with some tourist villas on the coast of the Marina Baixa.

The Founder of Goldcar and the now at the head of the Aligrupo family office (of which the Alibuilding promoter is its main business branch), Juan Alcaraz, recently became an investor of Sonneil. Alcaraz entered as a proptech investor last May, when he appointed Daniel Torregrosa (CEO of Aligroup) as Director of the firm. As Millá explained then, the entry into the capital of Alcaraz came in a personal capacity, as a business angel. The entrepreneur has initiated an investment strategy in startups and technology companies. Sonneil has also been responsible for marketing the residential developments that Aligrupo has launched in the last two years.

Second best proptech in 2019

Sonneil was launched in 2015 with the aim of updating the traditional customer acquisition system in search of a second residence on the Spanish coast, applying technology to the processes of capturing, managing and converting contacts in property visits. The firm has managed to reduce the sales costs of this type of real estate by 50%, while improving customer experience and satisfaction in the process. Last September, the Alicante company won second place in the ‘Proptech most voted by the public’ category of the 2019 Finnovating Proptech Awards, following the Housers collaborative financing platform.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.