NEWS
TheGuarantors raises $50M Series C, plans to supplement rental services with new products
April 25, 2022, 9:37 am By Joe Burns
TheGuarantors, an insurtech that serves as a co-signer and guarantees payment to landlords, announced today raising a $50 million Series C led by Portage Ventures, according to AlleyWatch.
The company says it will use the capital to build and launch several new financing and insurance products on its platform, and plans to quadruple its engineering team and aggressively hire across its product, sales and marketing functions.
Launched in 2015, TheGuarantors provides two flagship products which it says help “to create a smart, fair, and human rental experience for customers.” The first product, Lease Guarantee, allows renters access to homes they might not otherwise qualify for, while its Security Deposit Replacement acts as a direct and affordable substitute to a cash security deposit.
The insurtech says that is differs from competitors due to its focus on developing proprietary machine learning technology that can accurately identify risk. It says this provides high quality underwriting and enables partnerships with A-rated insurance carrier partners.
TheGuarantors targets millions of American households nationwide, stating that 46 million rental households have a collective $65 billion locked away in security deposits. It also estimated that five million households will struggle to get approved for a new rental unit this year based on their finances, and says its core products have a total addressable market of $10 billion.
The company also noted that, despite turbulence in the market from COVID, it was able to triple revenue in 2021.
Kensington Capital Partners, Arch Capital Group, Roosh Ventures and returning investor Alven also participated in the funding round, which brings TheGuarantors total funding raised to $76.7 million. The company previously raised an $11.7 million Series A led by Alven and White Star Capital in 2017, and a $15 million Series B led by Global Founders Capital in early 2019.
While the company says that downward pressure on publicly traded tech stocks have impacted the private equity funding environment, its unit economics and financial standing helped it secure the new capital and “inspired strong confidence in our sustainability and continued growth.”
“As the largest player in our space, we are the first choice for property managers looking to improve financial and operational performance. We’ve built a business with solid unit economics, strong growth, and impressive EBITDA. They’re investing in a resilient business that has doubled revenue annually since inception and tripled revenue in 2021, amidst chaos in the market during COVID,” TheGuarantors co-founder and CEO Julien Bonneville told AlleyWatch.
“Based on these strong fundamentals, we have recently launched our own licensed insurance company, making us the first VC-backed company in our space to do so. Our product value also speaks for itself; properties offer our product as a benefit to their residents, at zero cost to the landlord,” Bonneville said.
Since its founding, TheGuarantors has provided over $1.5 billion in total coverage across 49 states, and says it has streamlined the lease process by 22 days. It also noted that its services are available for properties from property managers and developers including Brookfield, Equity Residential, Tishman Speyer, Rockrose and Silverstein Properties
JPMorgan Chase acquires college financial planning platform Frank
Sept 21 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) said on Tuesday it had acquired Frank, a college financial planning platform used by over 5 million students in the United States.
The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions by the largest U.S. bank, and will allow the bank to deepen ties with students, it said.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Kitchen United Acquires Zuul
Leading Ghost Kitchen Company Adds Software and Ghost Kitchen Developer to Support Consumer Demand for Delivery and Take-Out Growth in New York City
October 04, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ghost kitchen industry leader Kitchen United announced today that it has acquired software and ghost kitchen developer, Zuul. The agreement marks Kitchen United’s first acquisition and strengthens its position as the preeminent restaurant delivery and take-out technology and facility company as consumer demand for food off-premise continues to grow. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“I have long admired Zuul’s leadership team and we are excited to have their expertise and insight as we expand into the metro-New York area and beyond.”
“As one of the first ghost kitchens in the New York City market, Zuul has laid a foundation that will further enable expansion of this type of business model in a massive, key market. As we looked for opportunities to continue to build upon our leadership position and scale into new territories, strengthening our platform with the addition of Zuul and its cutting-edge ZuulOS technology made strategic sense,” said Michael Montagano, CEO of Kitchen United. “I have long admired Zuul’s leadership team and we are excited to have their expertise and insight as we expand into the metro-New York area and beyond.”
Zuul is known for creating products and services designed to help restaurateurs and other food service operators grow their business and focus on what they love to do: make great food. To date, the company has supported multi-brand innovators scale their business through simple tech solutions, offered restaurateurs opportunities to grow in its ghost kitchens, and provided consulting services to landlords and restaurants who want to build multi-brand ghost kitchen and virtual brand models.
Zuul Market and ZuulOS were designed to drive profitable food delivery for operators and a unique online ordering experience for consumers. Unique to Zuul, its ZuulOS enables operators to create their own virtual food halls and fulfill multi-brand orders effortlessly. The company also powers native online ordering and batched deliveries with a partner network to provide an efficient delivery model that will marry well with Kitchen United’s proprietary technology platform MIX. Zuul Market allows established operators to create an innovative food delivery program under an existing brand. This will be translated to Kitchen United’s offering to support the proliferation of more virtual brands within its kitchen centers.
“We look forward to this next chapter for our company, and I’m very proud of our team for establishing a valuable, one-of-a-kind business,” said Corey Manicone, Co-Founder & CEO at Zuul. “Kitchen United has built the dominant ghost kitchen business for the restaurant industry and we share the same goal of offering restaurants cost-efficient, low risk ways to tap into the ever-growing consumer demand for off-premise food. I look forward to working with the Kitchen United team as we execute on the next chapter of growth.”
The Zuul Kitchens executive team will remain intact and the Zuul brand will be incorporated into the Kitchen United brand. The existing Zuul facility at 30 Vandam Street in Manhattan will transition to a Kitchen United MIX kitchen center. Kitchen United is slated to open a second Manhattan location in October 2021.
To learn more, visit: https://www.kitchenunited.com.
About Kitchen United
Founded in 2017, Kitchen United is a leading provider of restaurant hub technology, streamlined logistics and turn-key commercial kitchen space that empowers foodservice operators to tap into the growing off-premise business opportunity and offers consumers a first-of-its-kind to-go experience. The company offers a value-driven, low-risk way for emerging and established restaurant brands to enter into new markets, grow revenue through off-premise dining and expand delivery areas. For additional information, please visit: http://www.kitchenunited.com.
Contacts
ICR for Kitchen United
KitchenUnitedPR@icrinc.com
KITCHEN UNITED
Release Summary
Kitchen United Acquires Zuul
SwiftConnect, the World’s First Software Solving Real Estate Logistical Challenges of the Hybrid Work Environment, Raises $9 Million in Funding
October 14, 2021
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SwiftConnect, a software platform provider which enables flexible work by connecting the right people to the right space at the right time today announced $9 million in funding. The round was co-led by JLL Spark Global Ventures, the strategic investment arm of commercial real estate services firm JLL, and Navitas Capital, with participation from World Trade Ventures, Concrete Ventures, Silvertech Ventures, 1414 Ventures, and NetOne, among others. This investment will fuel the company’s hiring efforts, scale the software offerings, and bolster strategic partnership opportunities with real estate companies and enterprises.
“The pandemic accelerated the need for commercial real estate companies and enterprise occupiers to rethink how they embrace the new work reality where people want to work from different locations in an on-demand way,” said Matt Kopel, President of SwiftConnect. “While many companies are focusing on installing flexible space and adjusting their amenities to be COVID-friendly, they’re still lacking the basic tools to manage access to these new spaces and operate them as a network, not a series of siloed assets. We built SwiftConnect to architect a new framework for managing and automating who can enter a given space and when - with the ultimate goals of making hybrid work frictionless, promoting productivity, saving time and money, and leveraging the smartphone or keycard already in your pocket. We are incredibly excited to be partnering in executing our shared vision with some of the most iconic names in real estate technology investing today.”
SwiftConnect solves a growing pain-point for commercial real estate owners and occupiers - the rise of the dispersed workforce and the emergence of flexible work. Recent JLL research predicts at least 30 percent of the office market will be consumed as flexible space in the next 10 years. For the first time, SwiftConnect’s software-only product provides the infrastructure necessary to power flexible and hybrid work by integrating with existing building and suite-level access control systems which typically span multiple disparate and disconnected providers.
SwiftConnect’s software consolidates these siloed systems into a single cloud-enabled network, allowing an employee anywhere in the world to use a single credential to access any location, and allowing building owners and enterprises to centrally manage the adding or deleting of credentials and setting access permissions. SwiftConnect software integrates with existing access control hardware and software, meaning owners and occupiers never have to “rip and replace” existing systems. With SwiftConnect’s simple installation, buildings can be on-line and networked in just a few hours.
"Navitas is thrilled to back SwiftConnect's vision of a cloud-based access control utility for the real estate industry. The team and product architecture represent a unique software-only approach and a deep understanding of the problem facing owners, operators, and occupiers of commercial real estate assets today," said Louis Schotsky, Managing Partner at Navitas Capital. "The optionality that SwiftConnect provides creates an opportunity for forward thinking Owners and Operators to capture a disproportionate share of the shifting demand from occupiers. We consider ourselves lucky to have the opportunity to back this combination of vision, experience, and opportunity."
“As companies search for the right technology partners for the hybrid workplace, SwiftConnect has a significant opportunity to scale adoption of its unified cloud system for seamless office access control,” said David Gerster, Principal at JLL Spark. “By integrating with existing systems, SwiftConnect is well positioned to offer real estate owners and occupiers a flexible, friendly user experience for accessing buildings that solves many of the pain points they face today.”
Chip Kruger, SwiftConnect’s CEO, and Kopel previously partnered on Waltz, an access control company that was acquired by WeWork. Since SwiftConnect’s launch in June 2020, the company has formed strategic partnerships with leading real estate companies including Silverstein Properties, and is on track to be rolled out in over 50 million square feet of real estate space by the end of the year across several large building owners. The company is also working with large enterprises to assist in access management of their office fleets.
About SwiftConnect:
SwiftConnect’s software platform enables for both tenants and visitors seamless flexible access by automating the provisioning of access credentials across different buildings and office spaces. Regardless of location, SwiftConnect links the right people to the right office space at the right time, enabling anyone to “work from anywhere in the world.” For more information, visit: Swiftconnect.io
Frank Acquired by JPMorgan Chase as the Bank Looks to Strengthen Relationships with Student Borrowers
Frank, the college financial planning platform, is being acquired by JPMorgan Chase, as the bank looks to deepen its relationship with students. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. We launched Frank to make college more accessible for students and their families, and have already helped millions across the nation,” remarked Charlie Javice, Frank Founder and CEO. “We look forward to joining the Chase family to further this mission. Together, we can multiply our impact to help more students and their families achieve their financial goals and education dreams.”
Founded by Javice in 2016, Frank had raised $20.5M in total equity funding. Backers of the company include Gaingels, Reach Capital, Aleph, GingerBread Capital, Silvertech Ventures, Ground Up Ventures, SWAT Equity Partners, Marc Rowan, and Chegg. Javice will continue to lead the company under its own brand within the JPMorgan Chase umbrella. Frank has helped over 5M students to date.
“We want to build lifelong relationships with our customers,” remarked Jennifer Piepszak, co-CEO of Chase. “Frank offers a unique opportunity for deeper engagement with students. Together, we’ll be able to expand our capabilities for students and their families, helping them financially prepare for college and other major moments in their future.”