LeaseLock Hits $1B Milestone in Record Time

The insurtech start-up LeaseLock is breaking new ground. The company has officially surpassed $1 billion in leases insured, an impressive milestone that comes only five months after the company achieved $500 million in leases insured.

“Achieving the $1 billion in leases insured signals that the industry is approaching a tipping point where deposits are quickly becoming extinct,” Derek Merrill, CEO and co-founder of LeaseLock, tells GlobeSt.com. “Enterprise operators are demanding a software-driven solution that makes the move-in experience fast, simple and more affordable for renters while providing better financial protection for properties—LeaseLock’s insurtech platform delivers just this.”

The pandemic helped to drive rapid adoption of the LeaseLock platform, which allows tenants to forgo security deposits while protecting landlords. In 2020, LeaseLock grew 400% to a total of 1.5 million apartment units in 36 states. “The pandemic further pressed the affordability issue faced by many renters,” Reichen Kuhl, president and co-founder of LeaseLock, tells GlobeSt.com. “When you combine this with deposit legislation that is gaining national momentum, enterprise operators recognized that they needed a new financial instrument. While some deposit alternatives were paused by their reinsurers, LeaseLock was able to charge forward because of the sustainable model we built.”

In addition to the pandemic and the increased demand for affordability, AI also helped the start-up achieve its goals. “Consumers have become accustomed to frictionless and convenient experiences. While the multifamily industry has been moving towards AI over the past few years, they have not found a way to automate risk underwriting at the community level,” says Merrill. “We closely worked with our enterprise clients to understand their native operating processes and gain a deeper understanding of the pain points they experienced at the point of lease and post-move out receivables. It was important for us to take this knowledge to build an entirely new risk underwriting model for enterprise rental housing and deploy our product in native software workflows.”

The model leverages data gained through the property platform as well as AI. “Our goal has always been to optimize portfolio performance and deliver tangible results like faster leasing speed, increased occupancy and reductions in bad debt,” adds Merrill.

This year, the company is poised for additional growth. Merrill expects the firm’s portfolio to grow to 2 million apartment units, and the company is continuing to innovate technology-driven financial solutions for renters. “I believe the trust and confidence that leading enterprise rental housing operators have shown us indicates we are delivering on our mission,” says Kuhl. “We are helping the world find home in the most responsible and sustainable way possible.”