A local property technology startup has seen growth soar since the launch of its platform in 2021.
Charlotte-based Rent Ready aims to minimize apartment vacancies by making the turnover process painless. The company has grown fivefold since the launch of its automated turn-board platform. That technology, which updates in real time during the make-ready process, connects apartment communities with Rent Ready’s vetted network of vendors to automatically schedule services.
Over the last two years, Rent Ready has expanded from three markets to nine across the East Coast. It is now available in Charlotte, Raleigh and the Triad region in North Carolina; Columbia and Greenville, South Carolina; Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville, Florida; and Atlanta.
The startup also added flooring to its turn services, which include painting, cleaning, carpet cleaning, counter and tub refinishing, and maintenance work.
“That technology has really facilitated exponential growth for our business all while also providing an exponentially better experience for customers and how they manage this process today,” said Jonathan Kite, CEO and co-founder at Rent Ready.
Kite told CBJ he noticed a fragmented space in the apartment industry when it came to the turnover process — conducting maintenance, cleaning and signing a new tenant after a resident moves out. He says that can be a major pain point for apartment communities, especially for those still carrying out the process by paper versus digitally.
In many circumstances, property management companies individually source the services from different independent contractors, Kite said. That forces apartment management to hire and schedule multiple different service companies to perform the necessary work in the short time between occupancies.
This is where Rent Ready comes in — serving as a one-stop point of contact for the apartment turn process. Kite says that ultimately helps reduce time and money lost during an apartment vacancy, which is vital to maximize revenues.
“If you have to push out every service as a result of one vendor not having availability, you're delaying the move in for a new resident,” he said. “And every day of delayed move-in is a reduction in overall operating income for that community, and so that's where we have helped.”
Rent Ready’s automated turn-board platform is designed for both the vendors and apartment management to schedule the services needed at specific times.
“We help to kind of reduce the friction in that entire equation and process by providing them with an easy to use mobile app or desktop web app that allows them to enter a move out date or a move in date and the unit number,” Kite said. “And then we will coordinate that scheduling on their behalf and dispatch to a network of vendors and contractors that we have built in each market.”
The startup’s recent growth especially took off after its close of a $10 million Series A fundraise. The funding boost helped launch the turn-board platform and expand its service footprint. Kite says the company aims to raise a Series B round this year. He did not disclose the equity amount.
Rent Ready has raised a total of $17 million in funding since its inception in 2016.
Currently 139 apartment communities in Charlotte and another 75 across Greensboro and the Triangle area are using Rent Ready's services. The company is now working to launch its platform nationally, Kite said.
He added, “So growth is the primary focus for us this year, which will also come with additional investments in the technology that we built to continue to further automate this process for our customers and also for the contractors that we serve.”
