# Samara

> Samara is a Redwood City-based prefab housing company building factory-made backyard homes (ADUs) for California homeowners. Spun out of Airbnb by co-founder Joe Gebbia, Samara handles the entire process from design and permitting to manufacturing and installation, with a stated goal of using accessory dwelling units to ease the West Coast housing crunch.

- **Founded:** 2022
- **Headquarters:** Redwood City, California, United States
- **Founders:** Joe Gebbia (Co-founder & Chairman (also Airbnb co-founder)), Mike McNamara (CEO)
- **Team size:** ~200 employees
- **Products:** Backyard Studio, Backyard One Bedroom, Backyard Two Bedroom, Backyard XL 8 / XL 10, End-to-end service
- **Notable:** Spun out of Airbnb's internal innovation studio under Joe Gebbia, Raised $75M+ total across Series A and Series B, Acquired and expanded a Mexicali factory to 350,000 sq ft

## Products & services

- **Backyard Studio** — A compact prefab studio ADU designed for guests, rental income, or a home office.
- **Backyard One Bedroom** — A 690 sq ft one-bedroom ADU with full kitchen and bath.
- **Backyard Two Bedroom** — Two-bedroom prefab ADU built around flexible family use.
- **Backyard XL 8 / XL 10** — Larger format prefab homes, up to 950 sq ft (2 bed / 2 bath).
- **End-to-end service** — Site assessment, permitting, financing, manufacturing, delivery, and installation - handled in-house.
- **Samara financing** — Proprietary financing product launched in 2024 to make ADU ownership more accessible.

## Achievements

- Spun out of Airbnb's internal innovation studio under Joe Gebbia
- Raised $75M+ total across Series A and Series B
- Acquired and expanded a Mexicali factory to 350,000 sq ft
- Installed first modular home for an Altadena wildfire victim in 2025
- Over $100M in California project value in 12 months leading up to Series B

## Latest updates

- **2025-09** — Closed $34M Series B led by Thrive Capital to accelerate housing production.
- **2025** — Delivered modular ADU to an Altadena resident displaced by California wildfires.
- **2024-06** — Launched proprietary financing product for ADU buyers.
- **2024-02** — Acquired Mexicali factory to bring Backyard manufacturing fully in-house.

## Links

- Website: https://samara.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/meetsamara
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/samara
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@meetsamara
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetsamara

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/samara
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-23