Hmlet co-founder Zenos Schmickrath leaves startup to pursue next challenge

Singapore

THE co-founder of Singapore-based co-living operator Hmlet, Zenos Schmickrath, has left the startup to begin his "next entrepreneurship opportunity and challenge".

In response to queries from The Business Times (BT), Hmlet on Tuesday confirmed that its co-founder had left in December last year, although Mr Schmickrath still remains a shareholder of the company.

Mr Schmickrath founded Hmlet in 2016 with chief executive Yoan Kamalski, with plans to "create a better way of living for an increasingly mobile workforce, who want a sense of home and community in whichever country they choose to live in", said Mr Kamalski in a previous statement to BT. Mr Kamalski still serves as the startup's chief executive.

"Our co-founder has been an integral part of the success and progress of Hmlet," said Mr Kamalski in a statement to BT on Tuesday night, adding that Mr Schmickrath wishes everyone at Hmlet the very best in the present and the future.

In January, the startup cut around 10 per cent of its employees as their roles had become redundant, according to reports by Tech in Asia, which noted that the actual number could be even higher, and that the lay-offs had started in December last year.

Some of the people who left were senior regional or country operations leads, though the startup did not confirm their identities, the report added.

Sources also confirmed to BT that its head of operations, as well as some in the operations team, were let go.

This comes as the startup is starting a move towards a much more "asset-light model" to improve its bottom line, BT previously reported.

The startup - which usually rents, renovates and operates properties - is now in talks to partner more landlords to help run Hmlet-branded properties on a profit-sharing and management-contract basis instead.

"We are ramping up rapidly, investing in technology to bring more landlords onto our property platform to diversify our offering and meet the needs of more end-users, with the goal of serving 5,000 members across Asia-Pacific by the end of 2020," said Mr Kamalski.

According to its latest regulatory filings from 2018, the startup recorded a US$246,000 loss for the first half of the year ended Dec 31, 2018.

But Hmlet seems to be far from cash-strapped, having recently raised over US$40 million in a Series B round led by Burda Principal Investments in June last year.

According to venture capital data platform VentureCap insights, the property and lifestyle platform is currently valued at over US$154 million.

The startup previously raised US$6.5 million in a Series A round in November 2018 and a US$1.5 million seed round in 2017.