Enso Co-living - Redefining the future of Urban Living
Startup I am sourcing / Memo
Executive Summary
Company Description: Enso Cliving is a Spain-based real estate and community platform that develops and operates modern, fully serviced coliving spaces designed for virtually anyone, from young professionals to digital nomads.
Target Market: Enso targets the rapidly growing market segment of Gen Z renters, prioritizing flexibility, affordability, and arguably the most important: social connection, which has a global market projected to exceed $20B by 2030, driven by the rise of remote work, urban migration, and post-COVID redefinition of housing as a lifestyle experience.
Key Metrics
$7M ARR with a 25% gross margin per room, demonstrating strong monetization and operational efficiency
680+ rooms across Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, and Lisbon, maintaining a 100% occupancy rate and a 1,000+ renter waitlist
EBITDA is positive, which is a rare milestone for an early-stage, asset-light real estate startup
145% revenue CAGR since 2021, signaling strong and sustained growth across multiple markets
13.25x LTV/CAC, underscoring exceptional capital efficiency and retention strength
$3M+ raised in equity to date, fueling expansion toward high-demand cities like New York and Mexico City in the next phase of growth
Market Opportunity
The coliving market has expanded dramatically since 2020 and has been one of the most significant shifts in urban real estate since the rise of coworking. Gen Z & millennials make up over 65% of the global rental market, and are prioritizing affordability and flexibility over pure ownership. In 2023, the global coliving market was valued at $7.2 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.5% through 2030, reaching an astonishing $17 billion by the end of the decade1. Enso is at the heart of this transition, targeting customer segments that are crucial for fast growth, such as young professionals and digital nomads across Europe’s most vibrant urban hubs.
Europe alone offers a massive opportunity that is barely tapped; over 25 million urban renters between the ages of 22-40 cannot afford complete ownership and constantly want affordable living locations that blend design and style. For remote professionals, Spain and Portugal have become magnets, with Lison’s digital nomad population increasing 45%YoY and Barcelona emerging quickly as Europe’s top relocation destinations. Enso’s operational and asset-light model enables rapid scaling without the capital burden of property ownership, allowing it to expand across high-demand cities faster than slow incumbents.
Investment Thesis
A $7M ARR business with EBITDA-positive performance and a 1,000+ renter waitlist, Enso is emerging as the next-generation lifestyle operator in Europe’s most dynamic cities, with the high potential to scale globally to places such as New York and Mexico City
Urban housing pressures and remote-work trends mean demand for flexible, communal living is exploding. The global co-living market, driven by urbanization and rising real estate prices, is projected to grow from $7.7 billion in 2024 to over $32.3 billion by 2034. Enso’s target market is 40 major global cities with high housing pressures, representing a SAM of $6.3 billion
Enso is already Spain’s leader in coliving (680+ beds, with big waiting lists). Founders come from a problem background and have shown proven execution
Enso’s emphasis on premium quality and community builds brand loyalty. They actively screen and support residents to maintain safety and satisfaction. Landlords benefit from hassle-free, long-term leases
By leasing and renovating apartments, Enso doesn’t have to worry as much when it comes to capex, so this model can work in any city around the world, enabling rapid expansion
Product Analysis
Enso has quickly become a lifestyle brand for people around the world, not just a landlordEnso combines housing, utilities, furnishing, cleaning, and events in one single monthly fee. , eliminating fragmentation
Enso integrates onboarding, property management, community engagement, and rent payments into a unified tech stack, delivering a 25% gross margin for the room
Enso uses localized market intelligence and occupancy analytics to identify high-demand neighborhoods and optimize pricing, allowing the team to enter new cities with minimal marketing spend and rapid ramp-up times
Enso makes sure that every property has fitness access, sustainability, and community, massively differentiating Enso
Residents interact daily through Enso’s digital platform: booking services, joining activities, and engaging in local communities, turning what is typically a transactional housing product into an emotionally sticky ecosystem
Customer Acquisition & Retention
GTM for Enso has been relatively easy due to their dynamic strategy combining organic demand, digital performance marketing, and network-driven referrals. For proof of sustained inbound demand, Enso has a 100% occupancy rate & 1,000 renter waitlist from young professionals, digitanomads, and people who want to stay for longer in specific high-network locations. Word-of-mouth has been exceptionally high, causing a low CAC and increasing social virality from existing members, who may become brand ambassadors for Enso when it comes to their social media, events, and content campaigns. Onboarding for Enso is completed in less than 3 minutes, creating a seamless digital experience compared to slow real estate transactions.
Retention has been the lifeblood of Enso’s long-term defensability. Their LTV: C AC is above 13x, fueled by an average staying length of 7-9 months for customers with also high rebooking rates from previous clients. Enso’s value prop extends well beyond housing well due to the massive social network they create with everything they provide. Each satisfied resident becomes a new acquisition channel, creating a self-reinforcing flywheel that scales efficiently across geographies.
Competitive Differentiators
Enso differentiates itself through its unique asset-light expansion model, deep community integration, and proprietary operational technology. While most coliving startups optimize for design or short-term rental yields, Enso’s conviction lies in creating long-term livability and belonging through scalable, tech-enabled spaces. Its platform unifies operations, community engagement, and data analytics under one integrated system — delivering higher occupancy, faster expansion, and stronger retention than typical property-based competitors. The result is a lifestyle brand that monetizes both space and experience, positioning Enso as a defining player in the evolution of urban living.
Short-term Rental Operators (Airbnb, Sonder, Blueground)
While Airbnb and Sonder provide flexible stays, they primarily target transient travelers rather than long-term residents. These platforms lack the localized community focus that Enso offers, often leading to weaker tenant engagement and lower repeat stays. Enso’s model prioritizes consistency, connection, and affordability, building enduring local communities instead of transactional housing exchanges.
Other Coliving Operators (The COllective, COmmon, Outside)
Many competitors, such as Common and The Collective, focus on premium urban properties but carry high capex and operational overhead due to asset-heavy models. Enso’s asset-light approach, which is partnering with developers and landlords, allows for faster city-level scaling and superior unit economics. Its design ethos and flexible lease model further widen its appeal, attracting both digital nomads and mid-term urban renters underserved by traditional housing.
Student & Young Professional Housing Platforms (Habyt, Quarters, LifeX)
Student and young-professional operators like Habyt emphasize affordability but often lack strong brand identity or differentiated community experiences. Enso integrates curated events, digital community tools, and professional networking opportunities directly into the resident experience, turning coliving into an aspirational lifestyle rather than a budget compromise.
Team
Enso Coliving is led by Michael Erd Gómez (Co-Founder & CEO), a seasoned entrepreneur with a deep understanding of hospitality, community design, and real estate innovation. Before founding Enso, Michael held leadership roles across the European property and travel sectors, where he developed a sharp instinct for operational efficiency and the evolving needs of young urban renters. His experience blends creative brand-building with disciplined execution — a balance that has guided Enso’s growth from a single concept property to a profitable, multi-city operator across Southern Europe.
He is supported by a complementary founding and leadership team spanning operations, architecture, and technology, including executives with prior experience at Selina, WeWork, and Habyt. Together, they bring a unique mix of hospitality DNA and proptech sophistication, uniting design thinking with scalable systems. This combination allows Enso to maintain both a premium resident experience and high margin discipline as it expands. Under Michael’s leadership, the team has demonstrated rare consistency in execution, achieving 100% occupancy across 600+ rooms while maintaining a strong community-centric brand that resonates with the next generation of global professionals.
Key Growth Metrics & Financials
In the current locations Enso is at, they have secured a strong PMF through financial execution. They have achieved $7M ARR with a 145% revenue CAGR since 2021.. With 680+ operational rooms around the major cities they are currently a part of, Enso maintains a 100% occupancy rate with a waitlist that expands over 1,000 signups.
Enso is sitting at strong numbers with being EBITDA positive, while maintaining 25% gross margins per room booked, showing strong operational efficiency. The company has a high LTV: CAC, coming at 325x due to their high customer retention and strong occupancy numbers. Enso has raised $3M so far with not much dilution and is now ready to expand to more cities around the world. Their strong unit economics put them in a strong place when they expand, especially when they have to spread the word in the US, which potentially might drive up CAC.
Risks & Mitigations
Real Estate Exposure and Asset-Heavy Expansion: Enso’s business inherently relies on securing and managing physical real estate assets, which can expose the company to market fluctuations, lease risks, and high capital intensity as it scales.
Mitigation: Enso is transitioning to a hybrid asset-light model, focusing on long-term management contracts and revenue-sharing agreements with property owners rather than direct leasing. This shift enhances scalability, reduces upfront costs, and mitigates exposure to real estate volatility.
Operational Complexity Across Geographies: As Enso expands internationally, maintaining a consistent community experience, operational quality, and local compliance can become challenging. Fragmented regulations and cultural differences in housing laws could slow down growth.
Mitigation: The company has built a localized operations framework, hiring regional general managers in each market and integrating standardized operating procedures through Enso’s proprietary management software. This enables Enso to scale efficiently while maintaining brand consistency and compliance.
Competitive Pressure in a Crowded Market: With new entrants and existing hospitality brands entering the coliving space, differentiation and occupancy retention could be threatened over time.
Mitigation: Enso’s community-first brand positioning, tech-enabled operations, and proven 100% occupancy rates provide strong defensibility. Additionally, its data-driven expansion strategy, prioritizing markets with favorable demand-to-supply ratios and digital nomad density, ensures the company continues expanding in profitable, underpenetrated geographies.
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/co-living-market-report