Aaron Lee’s startup Dash Living expands its international foothold with an acquisition in Sydney

Dash Living, an accommodation services company focused on co-living, founded by Aaron Lee, has taken over a residential building in Sydney, adding a new country to its expanding portfolio of properties in Asia Pacific. 

The building, located in Sydney’s St Peters district, was previously managed by Singapore-based short-term apartment rental company Hmlet. Hmlet’s exit from Australia offered Dash Living the opportunity to take over the property and enter the market. It will soon be renamed Dash Living St Peters.

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Tatler Asia
Above St Peters property. Photo: Dash Living

In March 2021, Dash Living announced that it had successfully raised US$8.8 million in Series A financing. The startup shared that it would use the funds to finance its international expansion, with a focus on Australia, Japan and Southeast Asia.

The company, now seven years old, is operating in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Australia. 

Defining itself as “Asia Pacific’s new generation of serviced living rental solutions,” the Dash Living concept is based on the idea of co-living, where like-minded individuals share common spaces in the apartments they rent.

A strength of the concept is its convenience and flexibility; Dash offers all-included, short and long-term rentals. Designed with hyper-mobile millennials and urban professional customers in mind, Dash Living focuses its offers on high-density cities with expensive rent in Asia Pacific.

“This property fits very well into Dash Living's concept of co-living and sharing economy," Lee said about the 82-room Sydney property.

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Besides co-living homes, the company has diversified its offering to include serviced apartments and hotel rooms, and says it operates over 1,300 units at present. 

Lee also recently wrote to a Sydney-based real estate broker that his company was “looking for new projects after just launching in Sydney”, indicating that this recent acquisition could be just the first step for Dash Living in Australia. 

"The takeover of [the] St Peters property is a significant milestone for us to expand Dash Living's network into Australia," said Lee.


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