San Francisco based housing startup HomeShare announced that it has shut down after laying off the majority of its staff. In a recent blog post, Jeff Pang, HomeShare’s founder and CEO announced
It’s with a heavy heart that I am announcing that HomeShare is shutting down. Effective today, April 26th, 2019, HomeShare has ceased operations and closed its doors.
To HomeShare’s customers and partners: I apologize that we were not able to fulfill our promise to you. HomeShare’s mission of making cities more affordable began and ended with you in mind. We are disappointed in ourselves for failing to provide the level of service you deserved from us and we thank you for taking a leap of faith on a young company with a dream to improve the lives of residents.
To HomeShare’s employees: it’s an understatement to say that our story did not end where I hoped it would. Thank you for your dedication and hard work. You enabled HomeShare to expand to five markets, 50 properties and reach many residents’ lives. Our mission was one worth fighting for and I am thankful for the time and energy put forth behind each line of code, each installed partition, and each matched resident.
Earlier this month, there were already indications that the startup was in trouble. In early April, there was news HomeShare lays off almost all of its staffHomeShare lays off almost all of its staff.
After the announcement, there were indications that the San Francisco startup won’t handle rent payments between its customers and the apartment buildings it places them in, leaving some customers scrambling to make their rent after already paying it to HomeShare.
HomeShare’s journey began three years ago as a way for me and two friends to live affordably in San Francisco. HomeShare had raised $5.7 million from investors in January 2017 and operated in the Bay Area, New York, Seattle and Los Angeles.