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Culdesac

Car-free rental apartment community

Culdesac logo
21-100 employees
  • B2C
  • Property
  • Lifestyle
  • Real Estate
  • Environmental
Tempe, AZ

Company mission

To build cities for people, not cars.

Top investors

76% employee growth in 12 months

Our take

Culdesac builds car-free, pedestrian friendly towns and mini-cities, starting with its first project in Tempe, Arizona. The company makes its money by renting apartments, while partnering with businesses who wish to open up in the neighborhood.

The concept is a very intriguing one. The sustainability angle of pushing bicycles and other eco-friendly mobility services is appealing, but it’s the livability question that will make the difference ultimately. Partnerships with the likes of Lyft are in place to make commuting easy, while the fact that residents are given a mobility allowance for these services may attract plenty of movers.

Culdesac’s project has attracted plenty of venture funding as well as press interest. The company is planning to use this to scale up and begin developing a number of newer, bigger cities across the US.

Steph headshot

Steph

Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle

Benefits

  • Paid parental leave
  • Flexible Vacation
  • Family Planning Benefits
  • 401k savings
  • Remote Work Stipend
  • Mobility Stipend
  • Health savings account
  • Commuter benefits
  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Company values

  • Work as a Team – Be inclusive, drawing on the strengths of people who bring a different perspective. Find ways to work together that overcome disciplinary and geographic separations.
  • Act from ownership - Be output oriented. When we see a problem, we roll up our sleeves and fix it. Don’t let blockers stop you from seeing your work through to the end.
  • Rule 0, then iterate - Don’t start from scratch: learn from our own and others’ previous attempts. Before mass private car ownership, all cities were models of walkability. We learn from the designs of the past and make them beautiful and relevant to today. Then, we learn from our own designs to continually improve.
  • Design for humans - Ask people for feedback and observe behavior. Only users know if we’re creating value for them. Human paradoxes and contradictions are our opportunity to create joy. Respect the limits of what we can know and plan. In the complex organism of a city, emergent behavior rules.
  • Create and capture value - Focus on what our residents value: profitability is essential for sustainability and allows us to scale. Great places create positive externalities for ourselves and our neighbors, unlike the negative externalities of cars. We build value by executing on the fundamentals and excelling at mobility, community, and open space.

Funding (last 2 of 3 rounds)

Jan 2022

$30m

SERIES A

Nov 2019

$10m

EARLY VC

Total funding: $70m

This company has top investors

Leadership

Before co-founding Culdesac, they were a member of PropTech company Opendoor's founding team, serving as VP of Operations.

Former Associate and Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Co, before which they worked for research and policy non-profit Innovations For Poverty Action, serving as Director of the East Africa Safe Water Program.

Endorsements

All

Meaningful work (3)

Supportive management (3)

Diversity is a priority (2)

Opportunities to learn (1)

Intelligent people (1)

Hard working team (1)

My opinions are valued (1)

Open and honest communication (1)

Team energy (1)

Inspiring mission (1)

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