"Own Less, Live More."
The proptech company turning underused apartment lobbies into 24/7 rental hubs - giving residents on-demand access to vacuums, e-scooters, VR headsets and household goods without owning a single one.
Most people own a vacuum they use twice a month, a drill they touch twice a year, and a projector that lives in a closet. TULU, a New York-based proptech company founded in 2019, was built on a plain observation: the products cluttering our homes are used rarely, and the buildings we live in have space sitting empty. Put the two together and ownership starts to look optional.
TULU installs plug-and-play, IoT-based units in the lobbies, lounges, laundry rooms and bike rooms of apartment and student-housing buildings. Through a mobile app, residents can rent or buy brand-name products around the clock - from vacuums and drills to e-scooters, VR headsets and everyday consumables. Each unit's inventory is customized to the building and its tenants.
The company was born at MIT's DesignX venture accelerator, where Yishai Lehavi, a former architect, teamed up with Yael Shemer, an environmental entrepreneur. His view of the built environment met her focus on changing consumption habits, and the result was a platform that treats product access as building infrastructure rather than a novelty.
Since launching its first units in 2020, TULU has served more than 500,000 residents and logged over 10 million interactions across roughly 60 cities in North America and Europe. In November 2025 it closed a $17M Series A extension co-led by GreenSoil PropTech Ventures, bringing total funding to $37M - and, notably, reported reaching operational profitability along the way.
Smart IoT units sit inside the building, giving residents 24/7 access to shared products through the TULU app. No trip to a rental store - the store is downstairs.
Property owners and managers of multifamily, student housing, office and hospitality buildings - including Greystar, Brookfield and RXR Realty - and the half-million-plus residents who use it.
Households buy products they barely use; buildings hold amenity space they barely monetize. TULU solves both by making access local, on-demand and shared.
Everything in our daily life can become such a service.
Plug-and-play smart units in lobbies, lounges, laundry and bike rooms, stocked with brand-name products and customized to each building's residents.
Browse, rent, buy and return products; access consumables and services; all managed from the resident's phone, 24/7.
The AI/ML layer that personalizes inventory per building and turns usage into analytics and consumer intelligence for landlords and brands.
Residents rent or buy products on demand instead of owning them outright.
Property managers use TULU as a fully-managed premium amenity to attract and retain tenants and monetize idle common space.
Brands like Bosch and Karcher fund placement, pilots and access to real-world usage data.
Funding growth (cumulative, $M)
Cumulative totals; early rounds approximate. Sources: TechCrunch, PR Newswire, AlleyWatch.
Instead of a marketplace where strangers lend to strangers, TULU owns the units and the logistics - access is as close as the lobby.
TULU handles hardware, restocking, maintenance and support, so property teams get a working amenity, not a project.
Because everything flows through the app, TULU builds a data moat on how people actually use products - insight a single sale never reveals.
| Round | Amount | Date | Key Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | Undisclosed | 2021 | Ground Up Ventures, i3 Equity Partners |
| Series A | $20M | Apr 2022 | New Era Capital Partners, Robert Bosch VC, Karcher New Venture, Round Hill Ventures |
| Series A extension | ~$5M | 2023 | Existing investors |
| Series A extension | $17M | Nov 2025 | GreenSoil PropTech Ventures, Bosch Ventures, New Era, Regeneration.VC, Good Company |
Yishai Lehavi and Yael Shemer launch the company out of MIT's DesignX accelerator.
TULU begins installing IoT rental units in apartment lobbies and common spaces.
Early capital fuels the build-out of the in-building rental network.
Led by New Era Capital Partners, with Bosch and Karcher venture arms joining.
TULU Brain adds per-building inventory personalization and analytics.
GreenSoil PropTech Ventures co-leads an extension to expand to thousands more properties.
Supplies products and backs the platform through Bosch Ventures.
Provides cleaning products and invested via Karcher New Venture.
Major multifamily operator deploying TULU across its buildings.
Global real estate owner offering TULU as a resident amenity.
Developer and landlord partner across residential portfolios.
Consumer brands supplying micromobility and appliance products.
TULU installs smart, IoT-based units in apartment and student-housing buildings that let residents rent or buy brand-name products - like vacuums, e-scooters, VR headsets and household supplies - on demand through a mobile app, 24/7.
TULU was founded in 2019 by Yishai Lehavi (CEO, a former architect) and Yael Shemer (Chief Customer Officer, an environmental entrepreneur), who met at MIT's DesignX accelerator.
TULU has raised $37M in total, including a $20M Series A in 2022 and a $17M Series A extension in November 2025 co-led by GreenSoil PropTech Ventures, with backing from Bosch Ventures and Karcher.
Through a three-sided model: residents pay to rent or buy products, landlords pay for it as a premium managed amenity, and brands pay for product placement, pilots and access to usage data.
TULU operates across roughly 60 cities in North America and Europe and has served more than 500,000 residents, working with landlords such as Greystar, Brookfield and RXR Realty.