Editor’s note: This is one of our Startups to Watch of 2022. See the rest here.
Chris Osaka watched the housing supply dwindle as people moved to remote work, or to new actual physical addresses, through the pandemic. He also saw an opportunity, he said, to create an option for both investors and people looking to buy second homes — and avoid the chaos of the current housing market.
Enter Tomu LLC — its name a personal reference to Osaka’s 100-year-old grandfather. The company, self-funded with $300,000, makes Japanese- and Scandinavian-inspired modular getaway villas at a manufacturing facility in Frederick, Maryland, then delivers them to the buyers for assembly. Each has a floor plan designed to feel like a luxury hotel rather than a tiny house, with big windows, 9-foot ceilings and features like rain showers and soaking tubs, Osaka said. A studio villa (480 square feet) starts at $99,500, a one-bedroom (960 square feet) starts at $179,500 and a two-bedroom (1,440 square…
Read the full story from the Washington Business Journal.
