Evernest acquires Poplar Homes and $15M in tech-focused funding

Property management company Evernest announced on Wednesday its largest acquisition to date. The company will acquire tech-enabled property management platform Poplar Homes alongside $15 million in growth-centered funding.

The acquisition follows more than 30 made by Evernest since the company arrived on-scene in 2008. Adding Poplar Homes establishes Evernest as the second-largest tech-enabled property management platform for rental property owners. The company’s management portfolio will reportedly rise to 230,000 units across 50 markets. Evernest and Poplar have each achieved national recognition on the Inc. 5000 list in the past.

Poplar co-founder Chuck Hattemer will also join Evernest to guide integration and growth initiatives.

Evernest already offers services including brokerage, maintenance, renovation, insurance and lending. It combines its platform with local teams to carry out these services.

But Evernest has a vision that goes beyond localized employee-focused service. The $15 million investment announced Wednesday from private equity firm LL Funds will help Evernest build a home services platform focused on rental property owners. LL Funds also served as one of Poplar’s investors since the company’s debut in 2014, according to Evernest.

“Poplar’s addition gives us a presence in six new states, including the West Coast, enabling us to bring additional operating efficiencies to our property owners. LL Funds’ investment allows us to operate from a position of strength, enabling us to scale, increase market density, and deliver profitability to our clients at a pace that sets us apart in the industry,” Evernest founder and CEO Matthew Whitaker said in a prepared statement.

Poplar Homes is a leading property manager focused on individual investors and multifamily property owners. Poplar brings California, Oregon, Illinois, Nevada, South Carolina and Washington into the Evernest footprint.

“By joining forces with Evernest — renowned for their operational excellence — we’re uniting more than two decades of property management experience,” Greg Toschi, co-founder of Poplar Homes, said in a statement. “We’re excited about combining the two companies’ local property management operations and robust technology products. This comes at a time when the proptech sector is seeing increased investment in automation and AI-powered solutions for property management.”

This isn’t the only recent acquisition for Evernest. In December, the company acquired select assets from Elara, the property management division of Picket Homes. As the new year approaches, Evernest’s recent acquisitions continue a consistent trend of upward growth for the company.

Poplar Homes also added Sean Story as executive vice president in July 2024 to oversee its multifamily management and leasing portfolio.