Proptech Startup Raises $5M For Renter “TSA PreCheck”

A multifamily software company is gearing up to offer a TSA PreCheck-style system to screen apartment renters.

The firm, known as 100, has partnered with Clear, the biometric security company with kiosks at airports across the country, to screen and verify prospective tenants for the application process, according to a press release.

The announcement comes as the company, backed by venture capital firms such as MetaProp and Freestyle Capital, raised $5.2 million in pre-seed funding. It claims the total from the earliest phase of fundraising is the largest ever for a proptech firm in the U.S. (Totals typically range from the tens of thousands to roughly $5 million at the higher end.)

Called the Verified Renter Network, the initiative is aimed at reducing fraud and security risks for property owners. The launch comes after the National Multifamily Housing Council published a survey of its members earlier this year, in which 84 percent of respondents said they’d encountered renters using fake pay stubs and references in their applications.

To join the network, prospective renters pass a background check, including credit and rental history, as well as verification of their employment and an assessment of their income.

Clear members can start signing up for the network now, with free sign-up available to those in the Clear Plus tier.

“100 represents much-needed relief for multifamily operators burdened with record levels of fraud and debt,” the firm’s co-founder and CEO Caren Maio said in a statement. “We are setting a new standard in the rental application and screening process.”

Maio founded 100 alongside chief technology officer Vishal Patel, who previously worked with Maio at Funnel Leasing, a company she co-founded as Nestio in 2011. At the time of its rollout, Nestio was a platform used by owners, managers and brokers to manage their rental inventory, and it later added artificial intelligence-powered tools.

By 2018, the company had raised more than $16 million, including funding from some of its landlord clients such as the Moinian Group, the Durst Organization and the LeFrak Organization. The following year, Nestio launched online leasing platform Funnel, which at the time compared itself to TurboTax and Rocket Mortgage.

Maio stepped down as the CEO of Nestio in 2020, as the firm rebranded to Funnel.