- Rentigo and HelloRented announced that they have merged to form a company called Qira. And Qira raised $8 million in Series A funding.
Rentigo (a rent processing platform for real estate operators) and HelloRented (a rental finance platform with AI-based underwriting capabilities and a unique cash-based alternative security deposit solution) announced that the two companies have merged to form Qira. And the new end-to-end financial services platform supports residential owners, property managers, and renters through every financial interaction of the rent lifecycle. The company had recently received $8 million in investments for its Series A funding round. The Phoenix Insurance Company Ltd. (Phoenix) — Israel’s largest institutional investor — was the lead investor.
Qira serves as an intermediary between owners, property managers, and renters to reduce the financial friction between them. And the company’s proprietary AI-based due diligence algorithm provides approvals in 7 seconds flat, pulling data from 40 different sources to support the onboarding of both traditional and non-traditional applicants, including freelancers, students, and non-US citizens. And Qira’s Security Deposit Program enables renters to enter a lease without paying the full deposit upfront while providing property managers access to immediate cash to recover their damages with guaranteed coverage of up to 2x the deposit amount.
Throughout the term of each lease agreement, Qira helps residents meet rent obligations by offering deferred or split rent payments while still guaranteeing rent is always paid in full according to the owner’s payment schedule, eliminating the risk of rent defaults. And payments are collected and processed digitally, and residents can pay their rent and security deposit via ACH, credit card, debit card, check, or money order.
Qira issues same or next day refunds electronically. And claims on security deposits are processed within 48 hours and paid out immediately, helping property managers improve cash flow and fill more units faster.
As a full-service and self-funded platform, Qira serves as the financial partner for the entire building – helping owners and property managers to underwrite their renters, managing the building security deposit, and offering residents a suite of financing products to help meet their cashflow needs. And by offering Qira’s products, owners and property managers are better able to attract and retain high-value residents, ensure on-time payments and increase their financial efficiency.
Qira is led by Bill Staniford (the former CEO of PropertyShark and Revital Gadish) who helped lead Payoneer as the company’s Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer. And in addition to supporting Qira in its Series A raise, Phoenix’s Head of Global Real Estate Investments Guy Porat has been named to Qira’s board of directors.
The two companies that merged – Rentigo and HelloRented – were supported by private fintech and real estate investors including Sergio Fogel (founder of Dlocal, which recently went public at $6 billion), Yuval Tal, (founder of Payoneer, which recently went public at $3.3 billion), the Arabov Group, and serial entrepreneur Ehud Levy.
Now Qira serves more than 500 properties owned by boutique companies with 5-10 units to enterprise clients with thousands of units. And Qira has more than 6,000 users on its platform and aims to triple that number in 2022.
KEY QUOTES:
“After revolutionizing e-commerce, fintech is now improving the way financial transactions are carried out in the residential real estate market. As renter demographics shift, there is an increased need for instant solutions, from applicant selection to rent collection to offering immediate cashflow solutions at the click of a button. Ultimately, these solutions for residents help build better communities that are more profitable; we see it every day. Our products help owners and property managers reduce rent defaults, decrease bad debt and increase their NOI.”
— Bill Staniford, CEO of Qira
